The Devil Inside
by TheCocoQueen
Summary: Santana just wanted a normal life. She didn't want anything adventurous. Just normal. But with a quirk like hers and a society that's overrun with heroes and villains alike, Santana didn't have a chance at normal. So, now the girl must attend U.A. High and train to become a hero. Something she isn't thrilled about. But she gave up a long time ago at making her own decisions.
1. Enter: Santana

Coco: Hey, guys, it's me! Coco! And what I bring you is another BnHA story. For those of you who have read my first story, which is still ongoing, you already know I've been planning this one for a while and I finally have things in place as to where I wish to take the story. Now, a little warning is that this story is going to be a bit more darker than my other one. In you had to compare the two, I'd say Ayonic is Marvel while this story is more DC. I love both hero franchises and wanted to try my hand on the darker side of things. Hence why this story.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy and I hope to hear your thoughts and opinions very soon.

* * *

With heroes come villains. It's a simple fact. Especially in today's society. It's like saying with light comes darkness, or vice versa. No one can say with a hundred percent certainty what came first. Though many people lean towards darkness. So, does that mean it's the same for villains. Did the villains come first? Or the heroes? Though it didn't really matter which it was. The point was that heroes couldn't exist without villains.

And in today's society—a society filled with people with..._unique_ abilities known as quirks—, all it took was one bad day to create another new superpowered villain for the heroes to fight. In this world you were either a good guy or a bad guy, and sometimes society didn't really give you a choice on what you were going to be.

If you're born with a dangerous, scary quirk—even as a child—many would label you as a villain or at least one in the making. If your quirk gave you an odd appearance—and made you look inhuman—in some parts of the world, you were discriminated against. In other words, if you weren't born with a quirk made for a hero or just a simple normal quirk, your life could be a tough one. It really was all about who you were, where you were born, and what quirk you developed.

And once society decided what category to place you in, it was near impossible to change their mind. Especially if you were written off as a villain. Though while it may be near impossible, sometimes these individuals have a chance to prove society otherwise. However, sometimes these individuals would rather be just left alone and let society say whatever they want about them. But in this kind of society, people don't always get a choice in who or what they want to be. Hero, villain, or otherwise.

* * *

U.A. High School the number one ranked high school for heroics, which makes it the top Hero Academy in Japan. Many aspiring heroes dream of being part of such a prestigious and most of the popular and successful heroes of Japan call it their Alma Mater. To get in to the hero program of this school, students were expected to pass two tests. The first a practical exam and the second a written test. Only the top 44 ranked students in these exams will go on to join the hero course, and considering just how many people applied to U.A. it was extremely difficult to get one of those 44 seats.

_'And I have to do my best for one of those spots.'_ A teenage girl thought as she stood outside the prestige institution. _'Or Tía might kill me.'_

The girl was average height with a toned figure as if she was athletic and she had an olive skin tone. Her hair was jet black and was pulled back into a tight braid that fell about midback. All in all, she looked relatively normal expect for her eyes. The sclera of her eyes was black and her irises were a burnt orange to almost red color, and they almost seemed to glow like embers of a dying fire.

'_Though death might not be so bad,'_ The girl continued to think. _'It'd be better than this.'_

She then sighed knowing she better head inside before she was late for the entrance exam. With that in mind, the girl walked into U.A. High. Following the directional posters and signs, she managed to find the auditorium where all applicants were to gather before the exam.

She soon found herself a seat near the back of the large room. She threw her bag in the empty seat beside her as she leaned back with her arms crossed. Obviously, her body language wasn't that welcoming, and she was hoping that fact would keep people away. And as the auditorium filled up, it did work for a while. Many would glance her way, but quickly move on.

But when seats were starting to dwindle, people started sitting closer to the girl, which had her frowning. She hadn't feeling crowded. It made her feel so uncomfortable. She liked having room to move. She sighed again as she slunk farther down into her seat. She just wanted to get all of this over with and go home. When a voice was cleared, her eyes flickered up to see a boy with blonde hair and was parted to the right with a black lightning bolt streak in it. His eyes almost matched his hair but definitely brighter. He had a friendly grin on his face as he looked at her.

"Hey, sorry to ask, but is it cool if I sit next to you?" He asked as he pointed to the seat that had her bag in it.

Her answer to his question was to silently move her bag, which had his grin widening even more.

"Thanks," He said as he sat down next to her. "I'm Kaminari Denki. What's your name, beautiful?"

The girl seemed unbothered by his flirtatious tone, which had him sweat-dropping slightly. Though his grin didn't falter.

"Sukōchi Santana." She replied.

Denki seemed pleased that she replied at all since she had been rather quiet earlier.

"Nice to meet you, Sukōchi." Denki said. "So, you excited for the exams? I mean, I'm a bit worried about the written exam, but I'm stoked at the thought of joining U.A."

'_He's certainly a chatty one, isn't he?'_ Santana thought.

And if would seem as if she had some kind of luck on her side because before she even had to think of what to reply to this guy, the lights dimmed in the auditorium with everyone going quiet. Lights appeared on the stage below to illuminate a man who stood in front of a large screen behind the stage. Santana didn't know who this guy was, but she was guess he was one of the pro heroes teaching at this school.

"What's up, U.A candidates?!" The hero asked in a boisterous voice. "Thanks for tuning into me—your school DJ! Come on, and let me hear ya!"

He placed a hand to his ear. He was obviously waiting for a response from the gathered teens, but all he received was silence.

"Keeping it mellow, huh?" He asked as he tried to move on quickly from the awkward silence. "That's fine! I'll skip straight to the main show. Let's talk about how this practical exam is going to go down, okay? Are you READY?! Yeah!~"

He raised his hands high. Once more trying for some kind of pumped up response. Again, he was met with silence. Santana was actually starting to feel sorry for the guy.

"Oh, my goodness, it's the voice hero—Present Mic!" A boy practically squealed from a few rows in front of Santana. "So cool! I listen to his radio show every day of the week! It's crazy nuts that all the U.A teachers are—!"

"Will you shut up?" Another boy growled at the other in annoyance.

The first boy placed a hand over his mouth as his companion shot him a glare. Well, thanks to the kids gushing and Santana overhearing him, at least she knew who was talking to them now.

"Like your application says, today you rocking boys and girls will be conducting ten-minute mock battles in super hip urban cities." Present Mic continued. "After I drop the mic here, you'll head to your specified battle centers! Sound good?"

As he was met with even more silence, Santana looked down at the card she had been given earlier. It had her examinee number on the card and what battle center to report to.

"Okay!" Present Mic replied to his own question.

She noticed Denki glance towards her card before looking back at his own. He gave a sigh as he grinned slightly.

"Ah darn, looks like we're not in the same battle center." Denki whispered to her. "Bummer, huh?"

"Yeah, bummer," Santana deadpanned.

Despite her less than enthusiastic tone, Denki's mood didn't seem to dampen though he did sweat-drop for the second time in their very short acquaintance.

"Okay, okay," Present Mic caught their attention again as a mock city was brought up on the screen behind him.

As he gestured to the city three shadow images appeared around it with point values appearing around them.

"Let's check out your targets." Present Mic said. "There are three types of faux villains in every battle center. You'll earn points based on their level of difficulty! So best choose wisely."

The screen changed again to show a little computerized Present Mic going through the fake city to take on the faux villains. It looked very video game-like.

"Your goal in this trial is to use your quirk to raise your score by shredding these villains like a mid-song guitar solo!" Present Mic explained. "But—check it—make sure you're keeping things heroic. Attacking other examinees is a U.A no-no, ya dig?"

Well, Santana guessed as much. Wouldn't be very _heroic_ to attack innocent people, now would it? Her eyes then flickered to a boy who stood up from his seat from several rows down.

"Excuse me, sir, but I have a question." He said.

"Hit me!" Present Mic said pointing at the boy.

All eyes turned to look at him as a spotlight appeared on him. Just looking at him, Santana could tell he was the uptight type. His posture was super rigid and his expression was so serious Santana wondered if the boy ever smiled. He was definitely a complete contrast to the super friendly blonde sitting beside her.

"On the print out," The boy began as he held up the paper. "You've listened four types of villains not three. With all respect, if this is an error on official U.A materials, it is shameful. We are exemplary students. We expect the best from Japan's most notable school. A mistake such as this won't do."

Oh yeah, Santana called it. This guy was definitely uptight, or rather he was just very serious about his academic studies. The boy then whirled around to look at the boy who had been gushing about Present Mic earlier.

"Additionally, you with the unkempt hair." He said to the boy who now looked a deer in headlights. "You've been muttering this entire time. Stop that. If you can't bother to take this seriously, leave. You're distracting the rest of us."

As the boy meekly apologized, some looked on in sympathy. They wouldn't like to be called out like that that's for sure. Though others found a bit of amusement in it as they chuckled. Santana just sighed. The uptight guy was calling out the muttering one for being distracting, but _he's_ the one holding up progress. Santana just wanted to be given her instructions, take her exams, and go home to tell her aunt the deed was done so she'd lay off Santana.

"Alright, alright," Present Mic said calling the students back to attention. "Examinee No. 7711, thanks for calling in with your request. The fourth villain type is worth zero points. That guy's just an obstacle we'll be throwing in your way. There's one in every battle center. Think of them as a hurtle you should try to avoid. It's not that it can't be beaten, but there's…kind of no point. I recommend my listeners to ignore it, and focus on the ones on top of the chart!"

The uptight boy, who seemed content with having his question answered, bowed to Present Mic respectfully.

"Thank-you very much." He said. "Please, continue."

He sat back down in his chair with the spotlight coming off of him once he was done.

'_So, the fourth mock villain is useless in terms of passing,'_ Santana thought. _'However, it is an obstacle nonetheless. Running from it while also trying to get points off the other mock villains will take up time. Perhaps a full-frontal assault to take it out of commission first thing is the best option.'_

Though she supposes she might not even run into the thing if she just focuses on taking out the ones that are worth points. She'll just see how things play out in the beginning.

"That's all I've got for you today." Present Mic said. "I'll sign off with a little present. A sample of our school motto. As General Napoleon Bonaparte once laid down, 'A true hero is one who overcomes life's misfortunes'. Mm-hmm, now that's a tasty sell bite. You ready to go beyond? Let's hear a—Plus Ultra!"

No one responded to this call of Plus Ultra, but depending on how quiet they've been this entire time, Present Mic didn't seem surprised. Even fact his grin just widened as he pointed towards the students.

"Good luck!" Present Mic wished them well. "Hope you practiced more than hitting just books!"

* * *

Santana stood outside her battle center with several other students. She had changed out of clothes she had arrived in into simple white tank and black spandex running pants that fit her tightly. She also had on a pair of worn yellow converse that have definitely seen better days. They were her aunt's, which had given to her for good luck. Apparently, her aunt always wore them during all her major exams in college and always scored high. Hence why she practically forced Santana to take them with her today.

"Alright, let's start!" Present Mic shouted from a tall tower behind them. "Get moving! There're no countdowns in real battles! Run, run, run, listeners! You're wasting airtime here!"

Before he even finished the students were rushing the battle centers. Though Santana stood around long enough to sigh.

_'Okay, time to get serious,'_ She told herself. _'Though this is a drag, failing isn't an option.'_

She then hurried after the other students while knowing she needed to be swift and hit hard to rack up as many points as possible. She wasn't in the mock city for long before a robot came crashing through a building towards her. Based on its appearance it must be a three pointer. Well, looks like the big guns were raring and ready to do.

"Let's do this." She said as she held her arm back.

It engulfed in a deep red burning flame, and when she shot her fist forward, a torrent of fire threw at the robot. The power and heat behind the fire punch a hole right through the robot's head, which had it shutting down as it fell forward. Santana didn't stick around as she continued on. It was a ten-minute exam, so she had to work quickly. Santana rounded around one of the street corners while quickly having to dodge a robot that took a swing at her. She then pushed off the robot's arm like a springboard to get behind it. Lighting her fist up with fire once more, she sent another torrent of flames out. This time it punched a hole right into the robot's chest.

She left it behind to run and find more but they found her as she was soon surrounded by three one pointers. She had to duck down to avoid a hit to the face and roll across the ground to void behind run over. While still on the ground, she spun around, kicking off the converse on her feet. And while still spinning she pinwheeled as she shot flames from her feet at the circling robots. The flames did their job and took down the robots with ease.

"I was expecting more a challenge from Japan's top hero program." She said to herself as she retrieved the shoes she kicked off.

She wondered if the school had to be careful with the exams so to keep injury down to a minimum. Still if they want to train the top pros of tomorrow, a harder test seemed fit. She supposed it wasn't any of her business though how they decided to test upcoming students. And she really didn't have time to worry about it either.

Just as Santana was going to put back on her aunt's lucky shoes, two more robots came barreling towards her. With shoes still in hand, she jumped forward while delivering a flame covered kick to the robot's head. It popped off and while she was still in air, she sent a gush of flames from her other foot to give her a nice spin, so she out stomp a while through the second robot.

'_Maybe I'll just keep my feet bare for this,'_ She thought as she tied the laces together.

She hung them around her neck for safe keeping as she hurried on to find more robots to battle. She ran a few blocks before finding her next few targets, but just as swiftly as she took out the first six that had crossed paths with her. And that one appeared to have friends as four more robots—two and three pointers—whirled around the corner after her. She made quick work of them. She then glanced at her watch to see barely over three minutes have passed. Eleven robots down, twenty-two points racked up.

'_I can do better than that.'_ Santana thought as she kept moving. _'It's unlikely that the other candidates here have the same experience I do when concerning combat with hostile forces, which gives me the advantage. Doesn't mean I should get cocky. I keep my head in the game and keep pushing forward without pause. That's how I'll stay ahead of the competition.'_

She nodded to herself then jumped over some rumble before giving her surroundings a quick survey. She saw a large grouping of robots and students to her left as the battled in large plaza area.

'_Looks like I found my next targets.'_ She thought.

She rushed forward passed a few students as some hesitated at the sight of the large horde of robots. Others were taking their time against one opponent and before they could move onto the next, she was going to steal their prey. Both of her arms lit on fire as she jumped into the fray. Making sure to take out all opponents down with one hit, Santana soon found herself with six more enemies defeated. Before anyone could really process what happened, she was already moving on.

* * *

Up in the teacher's viewing area, Snipe let out a low whistle as he and the other teachers watched.

"That girl is quick," Snipe commented. "She doesn't hesitate and doesn't waste time with her opponents."

"Yes, it would seem she is a promising candidate for the hero program," Nezu agreed. "Thought I suppose it's to be expected from her."

Some of the teachers looked at the principal curiously as he continued to watch the girl with the fire-type quirk.

"That would be the problem child sent here from America." Nezu said. "The one that Drip pushed through for a spot in this exam."

The Aquatic Heroine: Drip was a smaller known hero in Japan though the pro-hero had started off in America. While she might not have any connection to U.A., Nezu couldn't ignore her plea to have her niece Santana be allowed to take the entrance exam to U.A. despite the deadline for all paperwork and forms to be turned in passed months ago. Besides, when hearing the girl's story, Nezu knew saying 'no' wasn't an option.

"I'm curious as to how things will turn out for her," Nezu said.

He then smiled as he watched Santana save another examinee by destroying the robot that had managed to knock him over. She barely gave a glance to the kid before moving on, but it was the most she paused since the exam started. While she might have really just went after the robot for the point, she at least looked to see if her fellow examinee was alright.

_'She might be a problem child,'_ He thought. _'But she isn't heartless it would seem.'_

* * *

As the horn blared to signal the end of the exam, Santana, who stood in a circle of destroyed robots, let out a breath. In the time she had had, she took down several high point robots with precise, one hit moves. She hadn't stopped to see what the others were doing nor did she let herself become distracted during the entire exam. She had kept up at her pace until the ten minutes were up.

_'I didn't even see that zero pointer that was mentioned,'_ She realized as Present Mic gave them the okay to stop.

She supposed it didn't matter. As long as she did what was needed to pass. All she had to worry about now was the written exam. She really didn't have a lot of time to study or anything considering how last minute her signing up for this exam was. And while she might just barely score high enough to pass, hopefully how well she did in the practical exam will be enough for her to get in.

_'Let's hope so anyway,'_ She thought. _'If I don't get in, Tía will kill me for sure.'_

There aren't many things or people in this world that scare Santana, but her aunt ranked pretty high on the list of things that do scare her. She has seen the woman angry and would rather avoid being the one to piss her off at all costs. Just thinking about what her aunt did to her uncle on her father's side of the family, had her shuddering uncomfortably. Her mother's side of the family never liked her father's side of the family, and her aunt hadn't wasted time to take an opportunity to strike when her uncle did something to piss her off.

"Um excuse me," A voice spoke behind Santana.

The girl turned seeing some boy had come up to her. He was a bit taller than her and had kind dark eyes that matched his equally dark hair. Santana blinked while tilting her head to the side as she tried to think about why the guy looked kind of familiar.

"Hi, I'm Rin Hiryū." He said giving a polite bow. "I wished to thank you for helping me out earlier."

It suddenly clicked in Santana's head as she remembered the boy who had been knocked to the ground by one of three-point robots. Really, her intention wasn't to save the guy. She hadn't even noticed him at first until after she hit the robot.

"Don't mention it." Santana replied as she slipped back on her borrowed shoes. "Like, seriously."

She almost added how she was only going for the points, but bit her tongue. Her aunt told her to try and be friendly to perhaps make new friends, or in her case, not scare anyone off too quickly.

"If you insist," Hiryū said before adding.

Santana was then saved from having to make anymore awkward conversation when it was announced over the speakers for the examinees to go get changed, so they then could perform the written test of the exam. Santana gave an awkward wave goodbye before she made a beeline for the changing rooms.

* * *

Santana let out her hundredth or so sigh of the day, but this one was of relief as she entered the safety of her aunt's home. Santana had left U.A. feeling rather confident with her performance. Yes, the written test had been a bit of challenge, but she feels as if she had grasped the material enough to get a passing grade at the very least.

"Tía, I'm home!" Santana called out as she kicked her shoes off her feet.

She set them down to the ones laid out neatly next to the door as she heard a distinct sound of clicking across the hardwood floors. She turned her head smiling slightly as her dog—Toro—running towards her with his trimmed nails clicking against the floor.

"Toro, mi Toro." Santana greeted as she crouched down to open her arms to the large dog. "Me has extrañado?"

Toro rumbled at her happily as Santana affectionally scratched behind his ears and spoke kindly to him in Spanish. Toro as sad as it might sound is Santana's only friend. The only person—er, dog—she could speak with without feeling awkward about it. Maybe it was because she knew Toro would never judge her as a person would. Either way, Toro was really the only one she kind of lowered her guard around.

"He has been moping around all day." A new voice spoke up, which had Santana looking up.

The one who spoke was a woman who looked to be in her late twenties to early thirties. She had long dark hair that matched Santana's though hers was loose and curled down her shoulders to her waste. Her complexion was much paler than Santana's skin tone. Her eyes were also similar to Santana's but instead of red, her eyes were a pale blue. This woman was Santana's aunt—Sukōchi Akua—and she was also Santana's legal guardian as of four months ago.

"So, how did it go?" Akua asked with a hopeful look in her eyes.

Santana let out snort as she stood up from her crouched position in front of the pit bull-mix at her feet.

"Don't worry," Santana said. "I gave it my all just like you asked me to, Tía. You said as long as I did that then I would get in, right?"

While Akua looked positively relieved, Santana wasn't exactly happy. And, when seeing her niece's unpleased expression, Akua's expression turned gentle.

"I know this isn't ideal for you, Santana." Akua said as she walked forward to kindly stroke Santana's hair, which Santana had let down after leaving U.A. "And I'm sorry how things have turned out for you, but this is for the best, I promise. I'm sure you'll like U.A. Just give it a chance."

Santana nodded her head, which had Akua smiling once more. She then turned to head back into the kitchen while telling Santana over her shoulder about what she was preparing for dinner. Santana didn't really listen as her hands curled up into fists. People involved in Santana's situation just kept telling her this was for the best, and telling her how lucky she was that U.A. had allowed her to participate in their exam. Or they were the complete opposite and telling Santana that for someone like her trying to become a waste of time. But no one ever stopped to ask what Santana wanted. No one ever lets her decide, but in her little world, she just simply wasn't allowed that…_luxury_.

* * *

Coco: So, hope you liked the first chapter of Santana's story. I know her quirk seems pretty straight forward and kind looks like she just has a similar quirk to Endeavor, but it is different. Which will be seen the farther we go into the story, I promise. Until next time, everyone!


	2. Dreaded First Day

Coco: I AM HERE-with a new chapter!...Sorry, couldn't resist _ Anyway, just wanted to leave a brief message with you all before getting started with the chapter. Just wanting to point out that like in my other BnHA story, there will be 3 additional students added to the hero course. Though not all in 1-A. You see, to try and keep all team ups, tests, and everything even amongst the classes in my last story, I was going to add 8 ocs to UA. This includes Ayano. However people complained about the amount of ocs, so I left off the four new additions in class 1-B and to keep myself from having to rewrite a whole bunch of chapters, I left the ones in 1-A alone.

But anyway, in another attempt to try and keep things equal and not odd numbered there will be 4 ocs added to the hero course. Two in 1-A and two in 1-B. And to keep with the DC theme and the whole not everyone wants to be a super hero vibe that Santana has going on, these new additions will be based on DC villains. Namely members of the Suicide Squad. So any villain ever apart in the Suicide Squad in any of the adaptations, comics, movies, etc was considered to fill one of the three remaining spots. All of them powerful female villainesses and/or anti-heros in DC are now going to be part of the hero course at U.A. Of course, I'll give them my own Coco-spin and BnHA-them up a bit to better fit the story.

The problem is that I'm not sure who to place in 1-A with Santana. So maybe you can help me? I'm not going to do a formal poll or anything as most of the time, I find people just casting their opinions in the comments anyway or even messaging me. So, anyway, the three villainesses I'm going to be building my ocs off of are Harley Quinn, Cheetah, and Nightshade (maybe not a very well know character but I like her). I was thinking of throwing Poison Ivy in there but instead of Cheetah, but I wasn't sure if people would be too upset considering we have Ibara. Though I had this really interesting idea for the Poison Ivy idea that I loved but idk. You guys just tell me your thoughts on it. I might still go with Ivy in the end. I just need to kind of figure out what I needed to do by next update and the other 1-A oc will be introduced to Santana by then.

* * *

As Santana had predicted, she made it into U.A. high school. Something her aunt had been thrilled about even if her dear niece was less than pleased with. And before Santana knew it her first day of classes arrived much too soon for her liking. She wasn't in a particular rush to get to those classes either, but Akua definitely wasn't going to let her lag this morning.

"Santana, hurry!" Akua called from downstairs. "You're going to be late."

Santana groaned a she was looking at herself in the mirror. She was wearing the school's uniform and wasn't digging it. The skirt was too short and the tie made her feel as if she had a vice around her neck. She missed her former school's lack of uniforms. She tried tugging the skirt down a bit to cover her legs more, but that wasn't happening. Though Santana was pretty comfortable with her body, she didn't need someone seeing what kind of underwear she wore, which she was afraid would happen. Next time, she went out, she was going to buy herself some tights—maybe even leggings. Or some compression shorts would work too.

"Santana, get down here now!" Akua shouted once more.

Santana held back an eyeroll before looking to Toro as the large dog laid comfortably on her bed. His tail wagged a bit when he saw her attention on him.

"Wish me luck, Toro." Santana said to him as she grabbed her bag, which had been lying next to him.

She gave him an affectionate pat on the head then hurried out of her room before her aunt blew a fuse. Akua, who was already in her hero costume, waited at the bottom of the stairs with bottle of a orange juice and a toasted egg sandwich—both her preferred sustenance for breakfast—in hand. She gave Santana a exasperated look as the teen grabbed her shoes to slip on before taking the offered food and drink.

"If you hadn't taken so long, you could have actually eaten that at the table comfortably." Akua pointed out. "Tomorrow let's try to have breakfast together tomorrow, okay?"

"Yes, Tía." Santana said.

Akua smiled at Santana before giving the girl a kiss on her check. Something that Santana almost flinched at as she wasn't used to the affection.

"Good." Akua said. "Now go on. You can't be late on your first day."

Santana nodded her head before heading out, so to head to the train station, which would bring her close enough to U.A. to foot it the rest of the way. She had her sandwich stuffed in her mouth and made it to the gate leading up to the house when Akua called out to her.

"And promise me to try and make at least one new friend today!" Akua shouted.

Santana grimaced, but as she couldn't tell Akua "no", she nodded her head in agreeance, which had Akua's smile widening. She waved one last time to the teen before she prepared to leave for work herself. Santana continued to hurry down the street towards the station as she finished eating her sandwich. She sipped on the orange juice as she went and as she turned the corner a few blocks down from her home, she nearly ran into someone who was leaving through their home's front gate.

She gasped while barely stopping in time to keep herself from hitting the person. The person gasped as well looking surprised, but then a large grin pulled across their face. Santana's eyes widened when recognizing Denki standing in front of her. She had no idea the blonde was so close to her home. Of course, she hasn't exactly gone out venturing since her arrival here.

"Sukōchi!" Denki exclaimed. "Hey! I had no idea you lived nearby."

Santana gave what she hoped was a smile to the blonde. Though knowing her it wasn't. Smiling isn't her strongest forte—especially around people she wasn't familiar with.

"I recently moved here to live with my aunt." Santana said with a shrug.

"That's cool!" Denki said. "And I'm guessing by your uniform that you got into U.A., huh? That means, we can walk together."

He said this last part with a wink as Santana hummed in response. She wasn't really looking for a walking buddy, but she supposed it didn't hurt anything.

"Ya know, if you want," Denki, who started losing his smile, added when she had remained silent.

Santana mentally sighed though nodded her head, which brought Denki's smile back.

"Awesome," Denki said. "Well, we better get going. We're both running late by this point."

He said this with a small shrug as if he wasn't too worried about it. Though when the two moved, they did jog a bit as they did need to reach the station preferably before the next train left.

"So, do you know what class you'll be in?" Denki asked her. "1-A or 1-B?"

"A," Santana replied.

Based by Denki's growing smile, she could only assume the two would be in the same class together.

"Looks like we'll be seeing a lot of each other then," Denki said. "Say, want to maybe grab a bite with me after school today? You know, might as well get to know each other better if we'll be spending so much time together."

Santana didn't reply at first as she really had to mull over it. She really wasn't sure if she could last an entire meal speaking to someone. She didn't have the best social skills if she was being completely honest. She wasn't the type to spend time with people her own age as her father kept her busy most of the time and she never felt the need to speak to her fellow teens when in school either. However, she did promise Akua to make at least one new friend today, and Denki was right when saying they'd be seeing each other a lot. So, might as well try to be friends with him, right?

"Sure," Santana said not seeing how Denki's face lit up. "It'll be nice to have a friend since I'm so new here."

Her words instantly had Denki's expression losing its excited expression as it turned a bit mopey. Santana didn't seem to notice though as the two continued their trek.

* * *

"Here we are," Denki said as he and Santana stopped outside class 1-A's door.

They made it sooner than they thought and actually had a few minutes to spare. The two entered with a few people giving curious glances at their entrance. Though no one went out of their ways to introduce themselves, which Santana was okay with. There were twenty-two desks in the room with rows 1 and 4 having one extra desk at the end of the rows that 2 and 3 did not have. Most of the seats were filled, so there weren't too many options to pick from. Santana also had to mentally lament the fact that all of the backrow seats were taken.

"Looks, there's two seats near each other we can take." Denki said as he pointed to the first and second rows.

Santana looked at the two seats he pointed towards. On the first row the open desk was third back and would place whoever set there between a girl with pink skin and a girl with green hair and wide eyes. While the seat on the second row was second in line and would place her or Denki between a blonde boy with a tail or a boy with red spikey hair. While the desks weren't right next together, it would keep the two of them close, which seemed to be Denki's plan. Santana shrugged her shoulders.

"Works for me, Ese." Santana said with a shrug.

Denki nodded then told her to pick first, so Santana opted to take the seat in the first row between the two girls, which left Denki to take the seat in the second row. Before her butt was even fully in her seat, the girl in front of her turned around in her chair.

"Hey, I'm Ashido Mina!" The girl said with a big friendly smile. "I saw you in my block during the entrance exam. You killed it out there, girl!"

Her words and slightly raised voice had a few people turning in their direction, which had Santana's brow twitch slightly. She didn't want attention period. But especially not on the first day.

"Thanks," Santana, who completely plopped down into her seat by now, said anyway as she tried to ignore the looks. "It was nothing though, really…I'm…I'm Sukōchi Santana by the way."

She tried to give Mina a smile as she spoke, but she was sure it was a grimace.

"Nice to meet ya!" Mina replied. "Oh, that's Asui Tsuyu behind you. We've already became acquainted."

Santana turned her head to look at the greenette who raised her hand to give a small wave.

"Please call me Tsu," She requested.

"Sure," Santana said. "You can call me Santana then, I guess. I mean, in the States we usually go by first name bases anyway."

She understood here in Japan things were different as her mother is Japanese, so she was raised with some Japanese mannerisms all her life. It helped her transition here so easily as she already knew about the culture difference and she knows the language. Though that didn't mean she preferred to go by her surname. She'd rather go by Santana as much as possible.

"Hey, hey, that's not far, Sukōchi," Denki spoke up from his seat. "What about me? I've known you longer."

He said this teasingly as he leaned forward on his desk a bit with his crossed arms.

"You can call me Santana too if you want, Kaminari," Santana said nonchalantly. "It doesn't matter to me either way."

It looked as if Denki was going reply, but someone shouting caught everyone's attention. Santana turned her head along with everyone else to see that serious boy from the other day. He was looking disbelievingly at one of the other students who was leaned back in his seat with his feet on the desk.

"Take your feet off that desk right now!" The boy ordered.

The boy—who had ashy blonde hair—just smirked in return as he remained in his relaxed position in his seat.

"Huh?" The blonde questioned with a tone that was just looking to rub serious boy the wrong way.

Santana watched in mild curiosity as she wondered if a fight way going to break out. In her old school, fights weren't uncommon and she has been in many herself as mentioned earlier. They got so bad sometimes and happened so often, they had some pretty serious security.

"It's the first day, and you're already disrespecting this academy by scuffing school property, you Cretan!" Serious boy exclaimed.

"You're kidding me, right?" The blonde asked. "Your old school put a stick up your ass? Or were you born with it?"

The serious boy seemed utterly surprised by the blonde's brazen question, but instead of blowing a fuse, he let out a sigh.

"Let's start over." He said while placing his hand over his chest. "I'm Iida Tenya from the Soumei Private Academy."

Santana could only guess that school was some kind of big deal based on its name, but it didn't seem as if the blonde was impressed.

"Soumei, huh?" The blonde said not getting any friendlier. "So, you must think you're better than me. I'm going to have fun tearing you a new one."

Tenya gasped at his threat as Santana held back a snort. The blonde guy was just all cuddles and sunshine, wasn't he?

"You would threaten me?!" Tenya asked. "Your own classmate? Are you sure you're in the right place?!"

The blonde scoffed rolling his eyes before something seemed to catch his attention at the classroom's door. Tenya followed his gaze with his eyes widening slightly.

"It's him." He said.

Once again heads turned. Santana tilted her head at the newcomer. The boy at the door looked rather plain even with his wild pushy, green hair. He had nothing about him that really stood out to Santana, but Tenya seemed to know who he was as did the blonde who looked annoyed at the sight of him. The boy looked nervous with all the eyes on him as he averted his own to look away.

"Um, hi," He stuttered out.

As Tenya went to speak with the boy, many others went back to previous conversations they were having, which meant Santana would have to keep socializing it would seem.

"Anyway, Santana, you mentioned the States earlier," Mina said. "So, you weren't born here in Japan?"

Santana mentally frowned as she realized her slip up. Though she supposed it wasn't a big deal. Besides, if it wasn't already rather apparent already, it would come to light eventually that she wasn't exactly Japanese. Not completely anyway. She's American born with a Japanese mother and a Latino father. Her mother had moved to the U.S when she was teenager alongside Santana's maternal grandparents and her aunt Akua who had been ten or so at the time. Years before that her father's family moved from Puerto Rico when his mother was pregnant with him and his father was looking for better work and a new life for the growing family.

Eventually Santana's mother and father met during their high school years and well, not long after that Santana was born. She was raised with both her mother's family and father's family's influence growing up, so she spoke rather fluently in both Japanese and Spanish—and of course, English. And she was well versed in the two different cultures that her parents had been raised in. Two very different cultures as they may be, Santana didn't mind as it was part of who she was, and just seemed normal for her.

"No," Santana finally replied to Mina's inquiry. "I was born in America, but recently moved here to Japan to live with my aunt. She's a small-time pro hero here as she worked in America for years before relocating to Japan about a year or two ago."

Akua hadn't been that well known in America either though as she was more a support type hero than one of the big hitters. But Akua has always did good work, and she's one of the few heroes—if only hero Santana could say she admires. And not just because she's her aunt—well, maybe partially because.

"Oh, really?" Tsuyu hummed. "Who is she?"

"Yeah, maybe we know her!" Mina added.

Before Santana could reply, all conversation was brought to a halt again, when those near the door gasped loudly.

'_What now?'_ Santana wondered as everyone was back to looking at the entrance to the classroom.

She then blinked once and then twice when she noticed the adult male laying in the floor inside a yellow sleeping bag. He looked as if he hasn't had a decent sleep in months. Though after a few seconds, he was climbing out of said bag after he welcomed the students to the hero course.

"It took you eight seconds before you all shut up." The man said continuing whatever he had been saying to the trio at the door. "That's not gonna work. Time is precious. Rational students would understand that."

Santana was going to go out on a limb and say this guy was their teacher. Though he was the scruffiest teacher she's ever laid eyes on. Though he still looked more well-kept than some of the teachers she's ever had.

"Hello, I'm Aizawa Shota." He introduced himself. "Your teacher."

Well, that confirmed what Santana had been thinking just a second ago, didn't it? Their new teacher then pulled what looked like a gym uniform out of his sleeping bag to hold out towards them.

"Right, let's get to it." Aizawa said. "Put these on and head outside."

No one moved at first, but it seemed as if their teacher really had no patience for time wasting, as he tossed the uniform in hand at the green-haired boy who gasped and fumbled to catch it.

"Hurry it up." Aizawa said. "We don't have all day."

He then started pulling out another uniform while calling out the name to the student who it belonged to. Said student moved up to grab it before being sent out the door. This continued on as Santana vaguely tried to match names to faces as her classmates went up to collect their uniforms. She was usually good at remembering people's names and faces, so hopefully it wouldn't take long to learn who was who amongst the students. They would be seeing each other for the next three years after all, and even if Santana wasn't going to go out of her way to make friends, she could at least learn their names.

* * *

Soon Santana and her classmates found themselves outside the school building it what appeared to be a little track area. Aizawa stood in front of them with his hands stuffed in his pockets.

"Now, that we're all here," Aizawa said. "We can start the quirk assessment test."

"What a quirk assessment test?" Many of the others repeated in shock.

Santana didn't really care. If this guy wanted to assess their abilities, she would oblige. Though she'd have to be careful and not go all out. She didn't want to be burning her new gym clothes so soon. She didn't feel like having to pay for new ones. That and going all out would be a waste of time and energy.

"But, orientation," Ochaco—bubbly girl who had greeted the messy-haired boy Izuku by the door—fretted. "We're going to miss it!"

Aizawa didn't seem too concerned with missing the little orientation ceremony as he kept his back to the students.

"If you really wanna make the big leagues, you waste time on pointless ceremonies." Aizawa informed them.

His words seemed to shake some of the students, but Santana didn't mind. She probably would have slept through that orientation ceremony anyway.

"Here at U.A. we're not tethered to traditions," Aizawa informed them as he turned his head to look at the teens. "That means I get to run my class however I see fit."

He finally turned to face them completely as a few looked worried about what their teacher had in mind.

"You've been taking standardized tests most of your lives." Aizawa remined them before holding up his phone, which showed a list of tests he was prepared to give them. "But you've never been allowed to use your quirks in physical exams before. The country is still trying to pretend that we're all created equal and not letting those with the most power excel. It's not rational. One day the Ministry of Education will learn."

Aizawa then turned his eyes on Katsuki—the sunshine and rainbows guy—as the blonde was standing near the edge of the group of students.

"Bakugo," Aizawa addressed. "You managed to get the most points on the entrance exam. What was your farthest distant throw in junior high?"

"67 meters, I think." Katsuki replied.

Aizawa nodded his head before he pulled out a softball from his pocket. Though it seemed a bit different as it had a blue ring around it. It looked a little high tech for a simple ball.

'_Huh, fancy,'_ Santana thought absently.

"Right, try doing it with your quirk." Aizawa said.

He tossed the ball at Katsuki who caught it with ease. Aizawa then instructed the blonde to go over to one of the throwing circles on the field.

"Anything goes," Aizawa told him. "Just stay in the circle."

Katsuki looked at Aizawa with a quirked brow before looking to the ball in his hand.

"Go on," Aizawa pushed. "You're wasting our time."

"Alright, man, you asked for it," Katsuki warned as he stretched out his throwing arm.

He took a throwing stance before slinging his arm forward and as his hand went to release the ball, a huge explosion came from his palm. It sent the ball hurtling far off into the distance to the point it became a tiny speck.

"All of you need to know your maximum capabilities." Aizawa said. "It's the most rational way to find out your potential of becoming a pro hero."

He held up the phone to show Katsuki's score, which had many of the class gasping.

"Whoa, 705 meters," Denki said. "Are you kidding me?"

Santana was quite impressed as well. That number wouldn't be easy to beat in the slightest.

'_Though I supposed I should aim for the top spot as I don't know the others' abilities,'_ Santana told herself. _'Best to aim high, so I don't end up at the bottom.'_

Akua wouldn't let her hear the end of it if she came home to tell the older woman that on her first day, she ended up with a terrible test score first thing.

"I wanna go!" Mina exclaimed. "That looks like fun."

A few others exclaimed their excitement as well, but based on the expression on Aizawa's face, Santana wasn't so sure if excitement is what they should be feeling.

"So, this looks like fun, huh?" He asked confusing the teens by his tone of voice. "You have three years here to become a hero. You think it's all going to be games and play time?"

His question was met by confused looks and silence, which had him smirking.

"Idiots," Aizawa said. "Today you'll compete in eight physical tests to gauge your potential. Whoever comes in last has none, and will be expelled immediately."

His words caused many of the students to begin to freak out, but Santana kept her cool. This teacher of theirs sure was intense. It wasn't what she was expecting that was for sure, but she's been through worse. All she had to do was keep calm and think rationally on all the ways her quirk can get her through the tests once Aizawa presented them to the teens.

"Like I said, I get to decide how this class is run," Aizawa reminded them as he pushed his hair back out of his face. "Understand? If that's a problem you can head home right now."

It was silent for a long moment as many of the students didn't know what to say. Though it was finally broken as Ochaco stepped forward.

"You can't send one of us home!" Ochaco protested. "I mean, we just got here. Even if it wasn't the first day that isn't fair."

Santana resisted the urge to roll her eyes at Ochaco's words as she ran her fingers through her hair.

'_It isn't fair?'_ Santana thought. _'Maybe it wasn't, but life in general wasn't exactly fair, was it? These…these kids…they have no idea.'_

And it would seem as if their teacher knew that as he was obviously trying to teach them something.

"Oh, and you think natural disasters are?" Aizawa retorted. "Or power-hungry villains, hmm? Or catastrophic accidents that wipe out whole cities? No, the world is full of unfairness. It's a hero's job to try and combat that unfairness. If you wanna be a pro, you're going to have to push yourself to the brink. For three years, U.A. will throw one terrible hardship after another at you. So, go beyond—plus ultra-style. Show me it's no mistake that you're here."

Santana shook her head as she frowned forward at nothing in particular. While Aizawa's words might almost sound inspirational or at least something to get them going, she just felt annoyance. No matter how strong the person, no one can fight against something as big as the unfairness of the world. No matter how many people a hero saves, there's always going to be a hundred more people suffering.

'_Not to mention that the word hero has kind of lost its true meaning,' Santana thought. 'So many pros are only in it for money and prestige. Or because they want excitement in their lives. It isn't because they actually want to help people. But here I am having to play along with it all. It's annoying.'_

She sighed while tuning back into the current situation as Aizawa moved on to the reason why they were out here for in the first place.

"Now, the first test with be a 50-yard dash." Aizawa told them. "Prepare yourselves."


	3. Quirk Assessment

Coco: Hey, guys, I'm back with another chapter :D I know these last few have been kind of slow and this one isn't much better, but chapter 4, which is already in the works, is when things will start to pick up. She'll have an official introduction with Kirishima and Santana will get to show off in the training exercise and show part of her true skills and abilities and we might learn a bit more about her past and her move to Japan and the reason behind her dark view on the society of the MHA universe. Also, the other Class 1-A oc will also be making an official appearance so look out for that XD Anyway, let's get to it, shall we?

* * *

Santana stretched out her legs as she prepared for the 50-yard dash. She had put up her hair up as well while taking off her shoes as she didn't want to burn them off. She also rolled up her pants' legs to just under her knees. She moved her uniform shirt off to wrap around her waist, which left her in her sports bra. This would allow her to use her flames on her legs and arms freely as needed without burning her gym clothes.

_'I'll focus my flames onto the bottoms of my feet.'_ Santana told herself. _'If I focus them into tight, constricted streams, it'll give me a boost of speed and send me flying over the finish line.'_

Once she was done stretching, she moved forward as the group before her finally finished. She glanced to her competition, which was a boy with a bird head—like beak and everything—kind of looked like a hawk. He was shorter than Santana. He didn't look very athletic at all, but looked completely at ease as he stood off to the side with his arms crossed. Maybe it was his quirk that gave him such cool confidence, but his demeanor isn't what had Santana studying him.

_'I wonder if his feather's stick back like that naturally or if he styles them that way,' _Santana pondered as she tilted her head to the side.

She then wondered if it was possible to gel feathers like people do hair. Or maybe use hairspray? The boy glanced at her when noticing her curious look, which had her glancing away. She scratched the back of her head as she casually stared off the side as if something else had caught her attention.

"Runners take your mark," The robot on the side of the track told them.

Now that it was time to start, Santana and the boy both got into running crouches as they waited for the signal to be given.

"Get ready," The robot said.

Santana's feet started warming with flames already starting to collect at her heels. The start-gun sounded and with that her feet erupted into flames that sent her flying forward and giving her a head start. Her competition wasn't too far behind as two shadowy dark arms grew from his body and threw him forward. Though with the flames still burning out the back of Santana's feet like two little jet engines, she crossed the finish line first.

"4.01 seconds!" The machine announced her time and then the boy's, "5.23 seconds!"

Santana lightly tapped the ball of her right foot on the dirt covered ground as her feet cooled. That was definitely faster than her time in middle school, but considering Tenya had cleared the run in under four seconds, she wouldn't be taking first this time around.

_'I'll have to do better in the next test,'_ Santana told herself as she moved out of the way for the next runners.

She moved to stand at the edge of the rest of her classmates, but was soon joined by Denki.

"That was pretty cool, Sukōchi." Denki commented. "What exactly is your quirk? You can shoot fire from your feet or something?"

Santana tilted her head as she wondered just how much of her quirk she could tell about. She supposed it didn't matter as the class would see exactly what she can do over the course of time they spend together in school and in training.

"Technically I can cover my whole body with it." Santana replied with a shrug. "My body is constantly running at a higher temperature than a normal person's temp. I guess you can say my body is like a furnace with a fire constantly burning inside. When I want, I can let that fire "leak" out either all over or just in different sections of my body. I can even control the intensity and heat of the flames my body produces."

Denki let out an impressed whistle as he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his pants.

"You were born with a pretty impressive quirk." Denki said.

Santana mentally grimaced as she didn't really see it that way, but she kept her mouth shut. She only told him the overview of her quirk. It could get pretty scary and when she goes too hot, she puts not only those around her but herself at risk as well. Her body is made for extreme heat, but there's a point where if she pushes too much it's like cooking herself from the inside out. She's damaged her organs before by trying to push pass her limits.

"So, what do you think of these tests?" Denki asked in a whisper, so not to be heard by Aizawa. "Crazy, right? I mean, sending last place home seems like a bit much."

"Worse things could be done," Santana pointed out. "Besides, I'm not worried about it because I'm not going to fall into last place."

Denki seemed a bit surprised by her words, and she supposed they could come across as being callous. But it was true. She wasn't worried. Nor did she care about how "unfair" it seemed either. All she had to do was get passed this test like she's done with the entrance exam. What happens to those around her isn't her concern. If someone was sent home today because they fell to the back of the pack then they were sent home. It was no skin off her nose.

"Aw, come on," Denki said as he poked her shoulder. "What if it's me? Wouldn't you miss me if I were sent away?"

He asked this while placing his hand against his chest and playfully pouting. Santana blinked at him as she wondered how to react. She knew he was just teasing. That much was obvious, but she still didn't know what he was exactly expecting her to say.

"We don't live far from each other," Santana said slowly. "So, I don't see how I'd miss you as it's likely I'd still be seeing you even if you fail."

Denki's expression turned very comically into one of shock that was a whole new level from the one he had been wearing a second ago. He then pouted at Santana.

"That's so cold, S." Denki said. "I thought we were friends."

Santana blinked at him as he continued to pout at her in a way that reminded her of a little kid.

"We…are?" Santana replied finally.

Denki finally lost his pout, but only to narrow his eyes at her as if suspicious of her words.

"That sounded more like a question than a confirmation," Denki accused.

Santana shrugged casually, which had Denki snorting at her. Aizawa then called the class for the next test as the last of the runners had finished. This brought them inside for a grip test. Santana didn't exactly do stellar on it as she had ended up melting down the device when she tried to use her quirk to give more grip to her fingers. She had barely gotten over 77 kilograms. Definitely not impressive states when she heard Shoji hit into the high triple digits.

The long jump was next and as she had done with the 50-meter dash, she put all the fire power into her feet. She sent herself up and over the line with ease and ended up getting pretty far. After that was the repeated sidesteps, which had been a bit tricky but she managed by holding her arms out to the side and blasting flames from either side. It had been a sloppy start, but she managed to get into a rhythm of firing and shutting off her flames in her hands quickly, so to get in as mean sidesteps as possible.

When test five had rolled around it was back to the softball toss, and after seeing Ochaco get infinity, Santana knew she'd have to settle for second place if she could even manage that as Katsuki's explosion definitely has more power behind it than her shooting off her flames in concentrated bursts. Though with the tests only part of the way over, it seemed rather obvious who would be going home at this point. And that would be Midoriya Izuku, who was stepping up to throw at this very moment, as the others stayed back.

_'I haven't seen him use any kind of quirk since the beginning of these tests.'_ Santana thought. _'Is he just not serious about staying here? Or perhaps confident that Aizawa is bluffing? To be honest, not sure if I believe this whole "last place is being sent home" thing either. But even so, you'd think he'd actually try.'_

Unless he was here not because he wanted to be, but because he had to be here. It was a possibility. But with how upset he seemed at the end of each test as he fell more and more behind, Santana doubted it.

_'Not that it's my problem,'_ Santana thought. _'Other people's success or failures have nothing to do with me.'_

Though it would seem as if a couple members of the class seemed concerned about Izuku's poor performance.

"If Midoriya doesn't shape up soon, he'll be the one going home," Tenya commented while looking slightly pensive.

Ochaco looked worried as well as she watched the green-haired youth looking troubledly down at the ball in his hand.

"Huh?!" Katsuki snorted. "Of course, he is! He's a quirkless loser!"

This quipped Santana's interest as she turned to the annoyed ash-blonde who was pointing to Izuku.

_'Someone quirkless joined the hero course?'_ Santana pondered. _'Why? When he could be going to a normal high school away from all this? I know that's what I'd be doing.'_

She was actually a bit jealous of the guy.

"He has a quirk." Tenya said looking surprised. "Did you not hear about what he did in the entrance exam?"

Katsuki looked puzzled now as he looked to Izuku then back to Tenya. He looked at the taller boy as if he had two heads. Katsuki seemed to know Izuku from before they all were brought together as a class. Santana would assume the two went to the same middle school, so Katsuki would know if his childhood acquaintance had a quirk or not, right?

Everyone eyes then returned to Izuku as he went to throw the ball. He looked as if he was really about to give it hell, but when the ball barely went 46 meters, things were quiet. Santana took note to the look of utter shock on Izuku's face as he looked down at his hand as if it almost betrayed him.

"I erased your quirk." Aizawa informed the youth and drawing attention to him.

The man's hair stood on end and his scarf unraveled as his eyes glowed red. Said eyes bored into Izuku.

"The judges weren't rational enough," Aizawa said. "Someone like you should never be allowed to enroll at this school."

Aizawa wasn't one to beat around the bush, was he? Or pull punches it would seem.

"Wait, you did what to my quirk—?!" Izuku began to ask before stopping abruptly. "Those goggles. I know you! You can look at someone and cancel out their quirk! The Erasure Hero: Eraser Head!"

Santana nearly snorted at the name. For someone who has such a lofty attitude, he sure has a…unique hero name. Santana then tuned out the conversation as Aizawa continued to speak with Izuku. It wasn't like she could perfectly hear what they were discussing anyway. Especially not when Aizawa used his scarf to pull Izuku closer. After a few more moments of discussion, Izuku was finally able to head back to the throwing circle.

"I wonder if our sensei gave him some advice." Tenya said.

"Probably told him to start packing." Katsuki scoffed.

Well, whatever Aizawa said, Izuku was giving it another shot at the softball throw. Izuku took his stance again and then shot his arm forward to throw. Unlike last time, however, the ball shot far off into the sky at such speeds it made a thundering noise and caused the air around it to whip around. Everyone watched with wide eyes as it flew farther and farther before finally hitting the ground.

"He threw it over 700 meters!" Denki exclaimed.

"Nice!" Ochaco complimented. "He's finally showing us his true power!"

As some of the others marveled in the power, Katsuki seemed to boil in frustration. Then before any of them knew it, Katsuki was giving a shout and charging towards Izuku.

"Deku, you bastard, tell me how you did that, or you're dead!" Katsuki threatened.

His hands sparked as his quirk flared. He was almost on top of Izuku when Aizawa captured the blonde boy in his scarf. And no matter how much Katsuki pulled, he couldn't get away.

"What?!" Katsuki growled. "Why the hell is your damn scarf so strong?"

"Because it's a capture weapon made of carbon fiber and a special metal alloy." Aizawa replied. "Stand down. It would be wise to avoid making me use my quirk so much. It gives me serious dry eye."

That had to suck with a power like that. If it didn't cause such discomfort, he could probably use it almost constantly. Aizawa then released Katsuki as he deactivated his quirk.

"You're wasting my time now." Aizawa said. "Whoever's next can step up."

He walked away while holding out a new softball for the next in line to take, and that person would be Santana. She stepped up to take the ball from his awaiting hand as Izuku cautiously moved around Katsuki. Santana tossed the ball up and down in her hand to get a feel for the weight.

"Hurry up and throw." Aizawa said. "And try not to melt the ball."

"Sí, sí," Santana said moved into the throwing ring.

She stretched out her arm with her plan to put her fire power behind her hand this time to give herself a little umph. She took her stance then threw the ball and at the perfect point of the throw she let out a burst of flames as she was releasing the ball. The ball went flying through the air to pretty impressive heights before finally coming down.

"600 meters. Another freaking crazy score." Denki commented. "Man, we have some monsters in this class."

Santana didn't seem too impressed as she moved away to give the next person a go. She knew there were three more tests. Extremely simple ones where quirks might not be that big of a help. That and she didn't think she'd need hers. Maybe for the long distant run, but her endurance was pretty good from training under her father's watchful gaze, so she might not stoop to it until the end maybe, so to finish up fast.

"Let's just get it over with." She said to herself.

These tests were taking too long in her opinion and she could really use a nice nap.

* * *

Santana yawned while scratching the back of her head as the rest of the tests were brought to an end. As the students gathered to listen to the results, Aizawa stood in front of them.

"Alright, time to give you your results." Aizawa said. "I ranked you all from best to worst. You should probably have a good idea of your standing already. I'll just pull up the whole list. It's not worth going over each individual score."

Aizawa pressed a button on his phone with a holographic listing of their ranks being displayed. The list went as followed:

1) Yaoyorozu Momo

2) Todoroki Shoto

3) Bakugo Katsuki

4) Sukōchi Santana

5) Iida Tenya

6) Tokoyami Fumikage

7) Shoji Mezo

8) Ojiro Mashirao

9) Kirishima Eijiro

10) Yoasobi Masako

11) Ashido Mina

12) Uraraka Ochaco

13) Koda Koji

14) Sato Rikido

15) Asui Tsuyu

16) Aoyama Yuga

17) Sero Hanta

18) Kaminari Denki

19) Jiro Kyoka

20) Hagakure Toru

21) Mineta Minoru

22) Midoriya Izuku

Santana tilted her head at fourth place, but supposed it was good enough. She was far from the bottom and definitely not getting expelled today.

"And I was lying," Aizawa said suddenly as he made the list disappear. "No one's going home."

The class got a new level of silent as many of the students stared at their teacher in shock.

"That was just a rational deception to make sure you gave it your all in the test." Aizawa said with a grin.

So many shouted in shock as Santana just snorted in amusement with her lips turning up.

"I'm surprised the rest of you didn't figure that out," Momo told their shocked classmates. "Sorry, guess I should have said something."

The teens then turned to Santana when the girl let out an actual laugh even if small. The girl was running her hand through her hair, which she had let down as her grin widened a bit.

"A rational deception," Santana repeated their teacher. "What a pretty way of phrasing it, eh?"

She chuckled shaking her head as their classmates looked at her and Momo in disbelief. Aizawa then dismissed them to return to class and pick up a syllabus, which they'd go over tomorrow. Santana started heading back as told while stretching her arms out in front of her.

"Hey, Santana, wait up!" Mina called.

Santana, who finished her stretching, paused letting the girl catch up to her along with Tsuyu at her side. The two reached her, so they all started walking together.

"So, that was all pretty intense, huh?" Mina asked. "I mean, I had been kind of nervous the entire time."

"Really?" Tsuyu asked. "You seemed pretty at ease to me, Mina."

Mina just laughed with a shrug of her shoulders as Santana just walked on silently with her hands in her pockets. She didn't add much to the conversation happening between the two girls on either side of her, and she was glad when they didn't try to force her. Though in way, she still felt included…and if she was being honest, it wasn't a bad feeling.

* * *

"Looks like we survived the first day, S." Denki commented as he and Santana stepped off the train back in their neighborhood.

Santana hummed in agreement as the two started leaving the train station to head home. The rest of the day had been pretty uneventful after their first class. They had gotten their syllabus from Aizawa, and the rest of the day was basically just reading over it.

"I can't wait for tomorrow." Denki said with an excited grin on his face. "We'll start Hero Basic Training tomorrow. Rumor is that All Might will be teaching the class. Can you believe that?"

Not really. Santana didn't understand why the Symbol of Peace himself would bother teaching a bunch of teenagers the basics of heroism. Doesn't be have better things to do? Like talk shows or something?

"It's pretty unbelievable." Santana said.

"Yeah, but if it's true, we'll be learning from the best." Denki said.

Santana guessed that was true. All Might just wasn't popular hear in Japan. All over of the world, people knew the Symbol of Peace. The man had really made his first big splash while back in America even. He worked with David Shield, an American born genius who leads the race in the newest and best hero support items. Santana's father has managed to get his hands on a few of Shield's devices though his own…_business_, which deals with trading of several different types of goods.

"Anyway, about that bite to eat I asked you about earlier," Denki brought up. "Want to go get something now? I mean, my parents probably won't be home for a while, so it's not like I'm expected to be there right now."

Santana didn't answer at first as she looked down at her phone to see what time it was. Akua was probably already home and waiting for her.

"I don't mind," Santana said. "But I have to check in with my aunt at home first. If you want, we can leave our bags there, so we don't have to carry them around."

"It's cool with me," Denki said with a nod.

Santana nodded in return before leading the way to her aunt's house. The two arrived shortly, and when Santana walked into the house, she was instantly pounced by Toro. She ended up falling on her butt with Denki laughing as she was attacked with slobbery kisses by her 60lbs puppy.

"Eh, Toro, hey, not the face!" Santana said as she tried to gently push him away.

She finally made the large dog back up and he plopped down on his butt with his tongue lolled out as he seemed to smile at her. His tail even wagged behind him as he panted. Santana gave him a deadpanned expression before shooting a look over her shoulder at the laughing Denki.

"Sorry, sorry," Denki said when seeing her look. "Are you okay?"

He helped her off the ground as the sound of footsteps reached them. Santana looked up as Akua came down from the stairs towards them.

"Santana," She greeted with a smile. "Welcome ho—!"

When her aunt stopped abruptly with her eyes going wide, Santana looked at her in confusion.

"Tía, are you okay?" Santana asked.

"You…You brought home a friend!" Akua exclaimed with a big happy smile splitting across her friend.

Akua hurried down the rest of the steps while quickly walking over to them. She then practically shoved Santana out of the way to grab Denki's hand to give it a friendly shake.

"Welcome to our home!" Akua said. "I am so happy to meet you! I was so worried Santana wouldn't even try to make a friend, but she's brought you home. Thank you so much for being her friend."

She said this while practically looking like she might cry. Santana, who decided to sit off to the side with Toro to watch, snorted at her aunt. Denki kind of sweat-dropped at the greeting, but managed to maintain his grin.

"It's nothing," Denki said. "I'm Kaminari Denki. It's nice to meet you as well, ma'am."

Akua smiled even more while not so subtly shooting a wink at Santana who rolled her eyes. She then exchanged a glance with Toro who snorted.

"Yeah, I know." Santana said as if Toro had said something. "Tía es loco."

Akua lightly whapped Santana over the head, which had Denki chuckling a bit.

"Would you like to join us for dinner, Kaminari-kun?" Akua asked the boy.

"We were actually going to grab a bite if you don't mind." Denki said as he gestured between Santana and himself.

Akua's eyes seemed to light up even more if possible, and she quickly nodded her head.

"Of course!" Akua said. "You two go have fun! Just make sure to come back at a decent time."

Santana sighed though nodded her head as she stood back up on her feet. She then took Denki's bag to set it next to hers by the door.

"Sure thing," Santana said. "Is there anything you need while I'm out, Tía?"

Akua shook her head before shooing the two of the teens out the door. Toro whined a bit at being left behind, but remained in place as Akua shut the door after them.

"So, there's this awesome little café nearby," Denki said as they left out the front gate. "I think you'll like it. It's got a pretty wide selection."

He kept talking with Santana nodding along every now and then to show she was listening. She survived her first day of school, and even managed to make a friend like her aunt asked. So far so good. She'll just have to see if she can keep it up for the next three years. Shouldn't be too hard, right? Like what could go wrong? It's just high school.


	4. Time for Costumes

Coco: Hey, guys, it's me back with another chapter :D It's not as action packed as I wanted it, but next chapter we'll see Santana in action again :D Looking forward to it very much. Hope you guys enjoy the chapter!

* * *

_Santana stood still watching as the smoke billowed and fire roared around her. It was accompanied by the screams of panicked civilians who ran looking for any kind of safety. There were also the sounds of guns firing and men shouting as they tried to deal with the threat before them—**her**. Santana, who was completely covered in flames, sighed as the bullets shot at her missed her by mere inches. They were getting sloppy with their shots because they were panicking. _

_**'I don't want to be doing this,'**__ She thought as she raised her arm._

_ The flames started to burn hotter as she readied to finish this._

_"El diablo se acerca!" One of the men shouted. "¡Corran por sus vidas!"_

_Santana ignored their cries as she shot her arm forward with a torrent of fire billowing forward. As the men cried and pain and pleaded for some kind of help, Santana felt her chest tighten._

_**'Someone…please stop me…' **_

Santana gasped while sitting up quickly. She was drenched in sweat and panting heavily as she tried to gain her bearings. She looked around seeing she was in her room. She then looked down at her arms seeing they were glowing a faint orange. She could feel her body heat had escalated pass her normal temperature and took a moment to girl herself down. Her arms ceased their glowing as her temperature returned to her normal 38.9.

_'It was just a dream,'_ She told herself. _'…yeah, a dream of a bad memory…'_

She shook her head before turning it to the right when she heard a whimper. She saw Toro standing next to her bed with his head slightly bowed in concern. She sighed while reaching out to pet the poor dog on the head. She probably forced him right out of bed with how hot her body had been burning.

"Sorry, Toro," She told him. "But everything is okay now."

Toro just bumped his snout against her thigh in reply as if he wasn't buying what she was trying to sell. It had her smiling slightly before she heaved out another long breath. She glanced at her clock seeing she really didn't have the time to try and go back to sleep. Her alarm would be sounding soon enough. Well, at least she'd be up early enough for breakfast with her aunt. That'd make Akua happy.

_'Though those few extra minutes would have been great,'_ She thought forlornly.

She guessed it couldn't be helped though. She then got out of bed to head off for a shower as she definitely needed it. She didn't want to school smelling sweaty.

_'Today we'll go through actual classes,'_ Santana thought. _'Most of them are pretty basic. English, history, literature, math, etc. But then __**that**__ class will come after lunch. Hero Basic Training…I'm not looking forward to it.'_

* * *

After getting ready and having breakfast with her aunt, Santana met up with Denki to head to school. During most of the journey, Denki kept it filled with conversation with Santana only pipping in every once and a while. Denki didn't seem to mind though as his grin never faltered once. His many topics of conversation lasted them until they finally reached school.

"And that's when I told him he was crazy," Denki, who was continuing his story from his middle school days, said. "I mean, who does that, right?"

Santana hummed in agreement as she and Denki rounded the corner to the hall that would take them to their classroom. However, as she came around the corner, she bumped right into someone who had been standing on the other side of the corner. The person she hit was rather sturdy and due to not being prepared to hitting someone, she tilted backwards. She ended up falling on her ass, which was definitely not how she wanted to start things right before class.

"Ow," She grumbled as she rubbed her sore backside.

"Hey, S, you okay?" Denki asked as someone said, "I am so sorry. You okay?"

Santana looked up to the two speaking to her. Denki wore a concerned expression that mirrored the expression to the redhead to his right. Santana recognized the guy from their class and believed his name was Kirishima or something.

"I'm fine," Santana said waving them off when they reached for her. "More embarrassed than anything."

She went to get up with the redhead insistent on helping her as he gently grabbed her arms to hoist her up.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked with guilt in his eye.

"Definitely," Santana said. "I just landed on my ass, so it's not that big of a deal."

She did have a pretty round one as her mother always liked to tell her as she had inherited it from her. Gave a little extra cushion during occasions like this.

"I'm still sorry." The boy said. "I should have known better to stand against a corner like that. We just started talking and I guess I didn't realize I should have moved."

He pointed behind his shoulder to Mina who waved when Santana's eyes fell on her.

"I'm Kirishima, by the way," He introduced himself. "Kirishima Eijiro."

He held out his hand to Santana with a big friendly smile on his face that showed off his pointed teeth. As Santana took his outstretched hand, she could only think this guy was so genuine. Like, one of those truly nice, can't do any wrong even if they tried people. She knows she just met him, but she's become pretty adept at reading people over the years.

"Sukōchi Santana." She said. "I prefer Santana though, so feel free to call me that if you want."

Eijiro nodded his head as the two dropped their hands from their handshake. Santana then turned to Mina when Mina jumped in front of her.

"Hey, girl, you ready for today?" She asked with a big smile on her face. "We're actually going to get to hero training today!"

She looked so excited at the thought of it that Santana didn't want dampen her mood, which is why Santana smiled.

"Yeah, looking forward to it," She lied easily.

It seemed as if her lie was bought. Not that she expected any less. Lying was something else she has mastered over the years.

"We better get to class." Eijiro suggested. "Don't want to be late, right?"

And so, the group walked together to class, and once the bell rang and Aizawa walked in, the day began.

* * *

The day went by rather quickly after that. English had been first, and while it had been a simple subject for her, Santana had wanted to get through it as quickly as possible as Present Mic was their instructor. And he was far too loud to deal with so early in the morning. A few other core classes had come after that and then lunch. Santana had to admit Lunch Rush's food was pretty amazing. Maybe not as good as her abuela's cooking, but still pretty amazing. But once lunch was over and it was time to head back to class. Meaning it was time…

"I AM HERE!" All Might called as he came swooping into their class room. "Coming through the door like a hero!"

As many of her classmates gushed at the sight of All Might, Santana frowned as she rested her chin in the palm of her hand. Her eyes followed the Symbol of Peace as he practically hopped to the podium at the front, center of the room.

_'So, this is the Symbol of Peace in the flesh,'_ Santana thought. _'He looks pretty goofy for someone known to have almost single-handedly made the crime rate drop worldwide.'_

Of course, looks can always be deceiving. Besides, he probably dressed and acted like this to get more attention. The flashier the pro, the more popular, and the more popular, the more money a pro is paid.

"Welcome to the most important class at U.A. High!" All Might said. "Think of it as Heroing 101! Here you will learn the basics of being a pro, and what it means to fight for the name of good."

He then crouched down while flexing his muscles, which had Santana rolling her eyes. She then looked off to the side as she wished to get this class over with as quickly as possible. She'd happily take Present Mic back at this point.

"Let's get into it!" All Might said as he dramatically held out a card that red 'battle' across it. "Today's lesson will pull no punches!"

Santana's classmates grew even more excited when realizing what kind of training they'd have on the first day.

"But one of the keys of being a hero is…looking good!" All Might said as he pressed a button and pointed to the wall on the other end of the class opposite of Santana.

Panels opened up to reveal numbered suitcases that most likely coincided with their seat numbers.

"These were designed for you based on your quirk registration forms and the requests you sent in before school started," All Might explained. "Get yourselves suited up and then meet me at Training Ground Beta!"

"Yes, sir!" The students replied.

All Might nodded then left the students to collect their respective suitcase. Santana waited until most of the others had gathered theirs before finally getting up. She took the suitcase with the number three on it. She had already had a suit before coming to America as her father had had one specially made to handle her quirk, but Akua had told her to send it in anyway to see if the designers wanted to tweak it to make it more…hero-like. She hoped they didn't change the design too much. She wasn't here to be flashy.

"Come on, Santana!" Mina called from the doorway where she and Tsuyu waited along with the rest of the girls.

"Coming," Santana replied as she threw the case over her shoulder and went to join the girls.

They walked down the hall with Mina and Toru chatting excitedly together with Ochaco about what kind of battle training they should be expecting. Santana was a bit curious herself. She guessed this training was a way for All Might to get a good look at their quirks up close. See how they use them in a fight or something similar.

"I wonder if we'll be battling robots or each other." Kyoka commented as she tilted her head.

"If it's robots, it's a waste of time," Santana said.

The other girls looked at her curiously as they wondered what she could possibly mean by that.

"Robots are predictable," Santana said. "Machines with the set programming to move in certain ways and perform certain tasks. Once you fight a few of the same model, any fight after that would be pointless. If they want us to actually better ourselves around here, they probably won't be using the robots for every hero lesson. Fighting the same opponent constantly makes bad habits is what I'm saying."

While, Mina, Toru, and Ochaco blinked looking surprised by Santana's logical reasoning, Momo nodded.

"Yes, I see what you mean," Momo said. "Which means our opponents will most likely be our teacher or our fellow classmates."

Santana nodded as the girl reached the changing rooms. Momo stepped inside first with the rest of the girls following suit. Santana found herself a locker to place her uniform in and started getting undressed. Once her school uniform was tucked away into the locker, she popped open the case to see that her suit had indeed changed. It was no longer the same simple black, fireproof catsuit she had grown accustomed too. She sighed as she looked at the cold and red accents on the suit and noticed that one piece had become too.

The top was cropped rather short and the long sleeves that covered her hands but not her fingers were bright red. The shoulders of the sleeves had gold swirls on them to break of the aggressive read and went down to her elbows almost making her sleeves resemble the flames she controls. On the front of the shirt was 'Diablo' in red, gold, and orange lettering with font designed to look like flames, and she almost wanted to snort. She can't believe her aunt had been okay with that being put on her costume. Of course, Akua might not have seen the final design.

Her bottoms were rather simple and black just as she liked them. They were also the same design as her suit where the ends of the legs wrapped around her feet. It was almost like wearing tights that covered her feet, but the heels and balls of her feet up to her toes were uncovered. She was glad to see that was still the same.

Though she sees the designer seemed to modify her belt (which had gone from black to red) as it now had a long black devil's tail attacked to it on the back. Her eye twitched at the faux appendage. Though that didn't compare to when both of her eyes started twitching at the sight of a black half mask that kind of reminded her of masks in an opera house. And coming out the top of the mask too long horns. Attached the mask was a note, so Santana detached the note to read it.

_'Sukōchi-san,_

_As I'm sure you've already figured out, I've taken slight liberation of modifying your previous suit. It was a bit too dull for hero work, darling, and I just couldn't let you be seen in it. So, taking inspiration from…your work in America, I designed this new suit for you! I do hope you enjoy it, my dear. Sending wishes for your future success. _

_ Sincerely, _

_ Mōdo Ryūkō_

_Vogue Hero Corporation_

_P.S. The tail I designed is heat sensitive, so the more you heat up, you'll notice it start to move. I'm pretty amazing, aren't I? Now, tootles, Darling!'_

In other words, this designer just did what they damn well pleased and change Santana's entire look. Though Santana didn't want to, she knew she had to hurry and get dressed. All Might probably wouldn't want class to be held up just because she had an issue with her costume. While internally grumbling the entire way, Santana dressed in her new attire.

"Whoa, Santana, you're looking so killer." Mina complimented as Santana finished.

"Yeah, those horns and tail are cute on you," Toru added.

Santana sweat-dropped as she wondered what was so cute about looking like a devil. Though she kept this comment to herself as she waited on the rest of the girls to finish.

"Are we all ready?" Momo asked the group.

"Yeah!" Chorused most of the others in return.

The girls then left the changing room while meeting up with some of the boys as they did. Some talked excitedly amongst themselves as they headed for the training grounds that All Might told them to meet him. Soon they reached their destination with All Might greeting them.

"They say clothes make the pros, ladies and gentlemen." All Might said. "And behold you are the proof! Take this to heart, from now on, you are all heroes in training!"

All Might looked over all the children while quite impressed with some of their creative ideas. They obviously put a lot of thought into their hero costumes.

"This is getting me all ramped up! You guys look so cool!" All Might complimented. "Now, shall we get started, ya bunch of noobies?"

While some looked nervous and others looked excited, All Might noticed one particular student who looked bored.

'_Sukōchi Santana…'_ He recognized her from her student file. _'The girl who transferred here from America…'_

—FLASHBACK—

_"Problem child?" All Might asked as he stood in front of Nezu in his office._

_ He wasn't the only one as many of the teachers who would be tasked with teaching the first years were present. _

_ "That's correct," Nezu said. "This year we've been given a little problem child from America. Her name is Sukōchi Santana. Sadly, the girl's upbringing hasn't been ideal. Born with a powerful quirk, she was exploited by her own parents into criminal work to gain them wealth and power."_

_ All Might and several of the other teachers frowned when hearing this. Unfortunately, it was something that's happened enough times to be a problem in their society. Parents or other adult figures exploiting young children with useful quirks for their own gain. Sometimes the stories ended well and the kids were liberated…other times, well, to be quite frank the child grows up to become their own villain, or they most likely die after being put into a situation they weren't ready to handle. _

_ "After her parents were finally brought to justice and her trial over, it was decided she would come here to Japan to live with her aunt." Nezu continued. "The circumstances of her trial are that she must enroll in a hero academy and become a hero to show she can do some good and isn't just the weapon forged by her parents. If she cannot do this, she will be labeled a villain and tried for the crimes committed as an adult. As I'm sure you can understand, I was quick to agree to let her register late to for the entrance exams, which she passed with flying colors."_

_ Nezu hit a button the remote he had on his desk with a video clip of the exams pulling up. All Might vaguely recognized the girl on the screen from the exam as she was easily taking down the faux villains. _

_ "It has been decided she will be placed in Class 1-A under Aizawa's care." Nezu explained. "But I hope all of you will look out for her. According to her aunt, Sukōchi has a very poor look on heroes and seems to have lost her faith in those who carry the title entirely. I hope to restore that faith as we help her grow into a wonderful hero. A hero she can be proud of being."_

—END OF FLASHBACK—

Santana probably wouldn't make it easy for them, but the teachers wanted to change things around for her. Show her that there were heroes out there who lived up to the name hero. It's a long task that will take time, but starting today, she'll start learning how a true hero really is.

"Now, that you're ready," All Might said. "It's time for combat training!"

He didn't get too much out besides that though as Tenya was quick to shoot up his hand.

"Sir," He called. "This is the fake city of our entrance exam. Does that mean we'll be conducting urban battles again?"

"Not quite," All Might said as he held up two fingers. "I'm going to move you up two steps ahead."

This information had Santana's brow quirking in interest. She hadn't been all that impressed with the entrance exam due to the lack of a challenge. But if All Might was jumping ahead a couple of steps, maybe today's lesson who actually be exciting.

"Most of the villain fights you see on the news takes place outside," All Might explained. "However, statistically speaking, run-ins with the dastardliest evil-doers takes place indoors."

Santana could agree with that. Fighting out in the open left so much room for error. There wasn't any to very little cover for starters. Other obstacles got in the way. And so many other factors played in, which is why many criminal stuck close to the indoors. Specially to places they knew well.

"Think about it," All Might challenged them. "Backroom deals. Home invasions. Secret underground lairs. Truly intelligent criminals stay hidden in the shadows. In this training exercise you'll be split into teams of bad guys and good guys, and fight two-on-two indoor battles. Well, mostly two-on-two. Due to number of students in the class, they'll be two students left out. The oddball pair if you will. We'll discuss what we'll do with those two once the teams are made!"

Santana tilted her head as she wondered what would happen to that pair. Would it be a one-on-one battle? Or perhaps, they'd be like an outside factor? Like, a surprise out of nowhere, which happens in real life. Sometimes in a fight against two opposing sides, a third party could always make an appearance. Like, the cops, or a rival group wanting to swoop in and end off the two fighting groups when they're weak and easy to take down.

"Isn't this a little advanced?" Tsuyu asked.

"The best training is what you get on the battlefield." All Might countered. "But remember you just can't punch a robot this time! You're dealing with actual people now."

All Might looked as if he was going to say more, but his students quickly interrupted as they had many questions to ask.

"Sir, will you be deciding who wins?" Momo questioned.

"How much can we hurt the other team?" Katsuki asked.

Santana almost snorted at that one as she stood to the back of the group with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Do we need to worry about the losers getting expelled like earlier?" Ochaco fretted.

"Will you be splitting us up based on chance or comparative skill?" Tenya asked.

"Isn't this cape trés chic?" Yuga inquired as he held out his sparkling cape.

All Might just shook in mild annoyance as he held up his fist in despair at being interrupted.

"Erk, I wasn't finished talking." All Might grumbled.

Once the class settled down, All Might pulled out a small script from his belt.

"Listen up!" He told them. "The situation is this: The villains have hidden a nuclear missile in their hideout. The heroes must try to foil their plans. To do that the good guys either have to catch the evil-doers or recover the weapon. Likewise, the bad guys succeed if they protect their payload or capture the heroes."

Sounded pretty straightforward enough. Simple, but at the same time, Santana hasn't seen the full extent to her classmates' quirks. That meant she'd have to be careful and actually think through a plan of attack rather than kick and punch her way through as she did with robots in the entrance exam.

"Time's limited and we'll choose teams by drawing lots," All Might declared while holding up a bright yellow box.

"Isn't there a better way?" Tenya questioned.

"Think about it," Izuku said. "Pros often have to team up with heroes from other agencies on the spot, so maybe that's the reason why we're seeing that here."

It did make sense. You never know who you might fight alongside in a battle of villains versus heroes. Well, if you're on the hero side at least. Santana always knew who was going to be by her side in a fight. If she was given the luxury of backup that is.

"Yes, I see." Tenya said. "Life is a random series of events. Excuse my rudeness."

He bowed to All Might as he apologized, but the pro didn't seem that upset. He simply pulled things along, so the students could draw lots to see who their partners would be for the battle training ahead. Everyone drew lots as told, and while most of the lots had a letter that matched with another lot, Santana drew a blank lot.

"Oh-ho, looks like you drew one of the blank lots!" All Might who was suddenly right behind her said.

Santana stiffened as she hadn't realized he was there before turning to face the tall man. He put his hand on her shoulder while turning her to face the rest of her classmates.

"And who else has a blank slot like Young Sukōchi here?" He asked.

"That would be me," A smooth, feminine voice spoke.

Santana and All Might turned along with the rest of the class to the one who spoke. The girl was petite in size—like, the girl looked to be Tsuyu's height if not a little shorter—with dark hair with a blue hue cut in an a-line bob that stopped at her chin. Though on top her head were these three weird…cow-licks?...that point up and back. They almost looked like the slicked back feathers of a Cockatoo. Her skin was a pale whitish-blue shade that quite frankly made Santana think of a corpse. Her eyes were a pale gray and framed by long, dark lashes.

Her hero costume was rather simple. A long black coat with a hood, which was down at the moment. The sleeves, which were styled to look rolled up, stopped at her elbows. The ends of the coat here frayed and ripped as if it had seen better days, but it could have just been part of the design as well. Underneath the coat she wore a dark navy crop-top. Her pants plain black ripped skinny jeans, and on her feet black combat boots.

_'Why does she get to wear a mostly black and relatively plain costume when I'm stuck in this get up?'_ Santana wondered unhappily. _'Probably because I got stuck with a designer with a weird sense of humor…'_

This girl, who lucked out in the hero costume department in Santana's eyes, was Yoasobi Masako. She scored rather well in the assessment test yesterday, and if Santana remembers correctly Masako used a shadow-type quirk. Almost like the Fumikage who Santana had raced during the assessment. Though while the shadow Fumikage controlled seemed to come out of his body, Masako's quirk seemed a bit different. Though Santana didn't get a chance to see much of it, so she wasn't sure exactly what Masako's quirk was actually capable of doing.

"Ah, Young Yoasobi!" All Might said. "Alright, so as the two of you have no team to face, I am going to give you a couple of options! Either I can add you onto another team thus giving that team the advantage, or you two can fight each other solo! Oh, or you can be bold enough to fight by yourself against a two-person team, which means you'll be placed in the drawing that will pick which team fights which! Of course, you both must come to an agreement on what you want to do, so to make sure every team has someone to battle."

So, they had three options to choose from in the end. In all honesty, the last option was looking rather pleasing to Santana. She was used to working on her own, and didn't play the best with others as she used to handling things solo. Though Masako might not want to take that route. Most probably wouldn't as fighting solo did have obvious disadvantages.

"I'll let Sukōchi decide." Masako said with a shrug. "It doesn't matter to me either way."

Her words brought attention to Santana, who felt as if things were turning in her favor, as it was up to her to make the decision. Santana smirked as she felt confident in the choice she was going to make.

"I'll take the third option," Santana said. "I'll fight two against one."

Some seemed surprised by her decision, but Santana was _almost_ certain she could pull it off. She had more experience than her classmates in these kinds of situations. Of course, she had always _played_ the bad guy, but either way she already had a few strategies brewing that would hopefully ensure her victory.

"Are you sure about that, S?" Denki asked. "You'll be really putting yourself at a disadvantage going in solo."

"I'm not a good team player," Santana confessed. "I prefer to do things on my own. I know I'm passing up a chance to maybe work on that flaw of mine, but for now, I want to put myself to the test. Even if I lose, I'll have a rough understanding of what I need to do to get through this class and make myself stronger."

Denki blinked at her words as All Might hummed thoughtfully. He was interested to see just what Santana had planned. Could she pull it off? He supposed they'd see in the upcoming matches.

"Very well," All Might said. "Then Sukōchi you will be "Team" K and Yoasobi you will be "Team" L! Good Luck! Now, it's time to see who the first two teams to battle will be! Hope you're all ready!"

* * *

Coco: Okay, so you tell me...what team do you think Santana should go head-to-head with in the upcoming chapter? Any ideas?


	5. Security Alert!

Coco: Hey, everyone! I know it's been a while since I posted for this MHA story. I was just stumped on who I wanted Santana to face, but I finally came to a decision XD Thank you to everyone who voted on the poll. Tenya and Katsuki's team had won the poll, but I thought Santana fighting Momo and Minoru was the better choice in the end and I hope you like how it turned out in the end.

* * *

Santana let out a yawn as she stood outside the building where her mock battle against Momo and Minoru would take place. Her match was the last one for the day. She's watched every match before hers very carefully and has learned quite a bit. About her classmates' quirks, how they move, and more importantly how they seem to think. Momo hasn't been shy giving her opinion on the matches thus far, and Santana could say with certainty that Momo is very intelligent.

However, Santana felt very, very certain that Momo would make the same mistake that all the others made. Which is thinking that there was only one way into that room with the mock nuclear weapon inside. Santana looked up at the building before her as she felt her fingertips and feet start to heat up. She only had to wait one more moment before the buzzer sounded to give her permission to start.

Santana walked up to the building and ignored the door all together and the lower windows. She raised her hand, which was now piping hot and glowing a reddish orange, but not in flame. She shot her hand forward and it sunk through the concrete with ease. She then kicked her foot, which was in the same state as her foot into the wall. She started climbing up the wall by melting her fingers and feet into the wall to make holds.

* * *

"Smart strategy." All Might commented as he and the other students watched. "Instead of going inside the building and having to maneuver the hallways, Young Santana is taking a different approach to save time."

Not only that…All Might had a feeling that Santana realized that all the students only used the only door into the room that housed the mock weapon. None of them thought to try a different entrance point and even those who played the villains, only defended the main door. Momo and Minoru weren't that different as All Might could see Momo reinforcing the doors with steal plates. Though he was sure the girl sent to U.A. on recommendations has more ideas up her sleeve.

"How hot do you think she raised the temperature in her hands for them sink into concrete like that?" Eijiro asked Denki. "Like, Dude, that's insane!"

"Tell me about it," Denki agreed.

"Look she found them!" Mina said pointing at the screen.

Everyone watched closely as Santana carefully peeked into one of the large windows to spot the _evil villains_.

* * *

Santana investigated the room through the window without alerting Momo and Minoru. The prior was too busy reinforcing the door and the latter was too busy staring at the prior's ass to look for any signs of danger. Santana snorted.

_'Hero in the making he is, isn't he?'_ She thought sarcastically.

She noticed that even though they—meaning Momo—were focused more on the main door than anything that there were a few of Minoru's balls laying around on the floor and some on the walls. If she remembers correctly, Minoru can bounce off the balls he pops off his head, but after seeing Yuga accidently getting stuck to one, she was certain she wouldn't bounce off either. Meaning she'd have to be careful where she stepped. Then Momo's quirk was more concerning. Though Santana still felt confident in her future victory.

Now to let these two know they have company. She chose that moment to melt a whole through the window to let herself in without making too much noise. She stepped into the room careful of the purple balls on the floor. Minoru quickly took note of the sudden breeze that came through as all the windows should be closed. He slowly turned seeing Santana standing not five feet away from the weapon. He opened his mouth to shout a warning at Momo, but Santana moved much faster by using flames to shoot herself forward.

Her knee caught the boy in the gut, and he went flying, which caused Momo to gasp and whirl around. Momo acted quickly and brought out a fire extinguisher that she probably made with her quirk to aim at Santana and shoot. Santana whirled out of the way, however, while still mindful of where she could place her feet. Momo looked a little shaken at Santana's surprised attack, which is something Santana is going to exploit. And to exploit it, she's not going to give Momo any time to think. Santana went forward again while spinning around to deliver a kick towards Momo's side.

Momo made a shield to defend herself, and while the shield took the brunt of the blow, Momo was still sent skidding sideways. Minoru, who recovered from the initial attack, chose that moment to try and attack Santana, but the girl ducked down to avoid him.

"Don't think you got away from me!" Minoru shouted as he bounced off some of the balls he had stuck to the wall. "I've got you, Sukōchi!"

He raised out his hands towards her, but what he didn't expect was for her to put out her arm and close hanger him without any hesitation. He fell to the ground with a thump and didn't look like he was going to get up anytime soon. Though thanks to his little distraction, Momo managed to hit Santana with a blast from the fire extinguisher. Santana sighed at being covered in foam before turning to Momo.

"Please, don't tell me that was your only plan against me, princesa." Santana said as she shook her head to rid it of some of the foam. "If you think making it impossible for me to use my flames gives you the win, you're badly mistaken. You want to know how I know that? Because you're not the first person to ever try this."

Momo seemed a bit surprised by Santana's words, but quickly schooled her expression. Momo created what looked like a small bomb of sorts in her hand, but before she could use it, Santana picked up the fallen Minoru to throw at Momo. Momo, who didn't want to hurt her teammate, hesitated, and went to catch him, which gave Santana the time she needed to move. Santana rushed forward hitting Momo head on caused the taller girl to teeter backwards. As she was unbalanced, Santana hooked her foot behind Momo's leg and tugged it forward to completely knock her off balance.

As Momo went backwards, Santana followed the moment while getting out the captor tape in her pocket. She quickly wrapped Momo and Minoru both up after using her own body weight to pin Momo down after tripping her up. Once they were down, Santana stood back up and shook herself to get even more foam off her body. She hated being blasted by extinguishers. They always made her feel gross and sometimes sick. She then went over to the mock weapon and placed her hand against it.

"Cargo secure." She said as she tapped the comm that she didn't even have while talking to people who weren't even there.

She frowned realizing what she done. It seemed some habits were hard to kick. She lowered her hand as it curled into a fist as she was declared the winner of the mock battle over the speakers. She then freed Momo and Minoru, who was starting to gain consciousness, from the captor tape.

"You did very well, Sukōchi." Momo praised though she looked a little crestfallen. "I thought if I stopped you from using your quirk, we could have stopped you. It appears as if I was wrong."

"Don't beat yourself up above it." Santana said. "Your strategy was sound for the most part, but never think you have an opponent beat just because you render their quirk useless. Even if you weaken them, there are other ways to fight. Martial arts, weapons, etc."

Though even as she was saying this, she felt the wooziness start to set in from being sprayed with extinguisher. Momo nodded her head in understanding before the group of three left the building to join up to others.

"That was totally cool, S!" Denki said giving her a thumbs up.

"Yeah, I guess." Santana said as she tried to get more of the extinguishing foam off her. "Man, I feel so sick right now."

She crouched down as she said this while trying to handle the dizziness she felt.

"Whoa, you okay?" Denki asked in concern.

"Yeah, it'll pass in a minute." Santana said. "Once I get this junk off of me anyway."

Santana then blinked when a shadowed loomed over her and Denki. She looked up seeing All Might leaning over them.

"If you'd like, Young Sukōchi, you can leave a little early to hit the showers." All Might offered. "And perhaps a visit to Recovery Girl is in order!"

Santana openly frowned at the Symbol of Peace as she forced herself to stand back up.

"I don't need to see Recovery Girl." Santana said. "But I will be leaving to take that shower. _Thanks_ for the dismissal, All Might-sensei."

She then walked pass All Might as Denki was blinking in confusion at Santana's cold tone. All Might just sighed, however, as he watched the girl go.

_'Yep, she's not going to let us in easy at all…'_ He thought.

* * *

As the next day rolled around, Santana felt good as new. Of course, after that shower she had, the sick feeling had gone away. She just hoped she didn't get hit with anymore extinguisher for a while. Though if she's ever faced against Momo again, she'd say it's a possibility. Though despite feeling better, a certain blonde companion of hers was still concerned.

"So, you're sure you're good, right?" Denki asked as the two walked towards school together.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Santana said. "The sick feeling doesn't last long once the stuff is off of me, Ese."

Denki nodded then came a halt as he looked forward with a mix of confusion and surprise on his face. Santana stopped as well while looking to see what had caught his attention. When seeing a mob of reporters in front of the school, Santana frowned.

"This isn't how I wanted to start my morning," Santana said with a sigh. "Come on, before we're late to class."

Denki nodded then followed his friend towards the crowd of reporters. Santana pushed their way through with many of those around them not even realizing they were students before they made it to the front.

"Hey, wait!" One reporter called. "Are either of you one of All Might's students?"

Santana just blinked at the woman in reply while not seeming impressed with her or the mic she had shoved in Santana's face.

"Uh, yeah, we are." Denki replied.

As soon as the words left his mouth, the reporters almost seemed to turn rabid at the news.

"Tell us, what is he like in person?!" One reporter shouted.

"How is it like to work with him?"

"How is he adjusting as a teacher?!"

"Tell us!" The brunette reporter demanded as she pushed the mic even closer.

Denki just flinched looking overwhelmed by all the questions and hungry for news reporters. Santana, on the other hand, only looked bored as she rolled her eyes. She then opened her mouth to speak very clearly.

"No comment," She said simply then turned away.

She tugged Denki behind her as the reporters all shouted for the teens to come back but to no avail.

"That was kind of…intense, wasn't it?" Denki asked with a chuckle.

"Just a bunch of vultures looking for scraps." Santana said with a shrug. "Anyway, how do you think you did on Ectoplasm-Sensei's surprise pop quiz yesterday?"

Denki frowned at the mention of it as the two discussed schoolwork on their way to class.

* * *

"Decent work on yesterday's combat training, you guys." Aizawa said as he placed his hand on the stack of papers next to him. "I saw the video feeds and went over each of your teams' results. Bakugo."

He glanced over at said ash-blonde teen who frowned when being singled out.

"You're talented." Aizawa told the boy. "So, don't sulk like a child about your loss, okay?"

"Yeah, whatever." Katsuki said as he looked away.

He was acting all chill about it now, but Santana noticed yesterday how much it bothered him. That fight between him and Izuku had been intense. Even a blindman could see the tension between the two. Santana didn't know what their deal was, but it was obvious the two had history.

"Midoriya," Aizawa continued. "I see the only way you won the match is by messing up your arm again. Work harder. And don't give me the excuse that you don't have control over your quirk. That line is already getting old. You can't keep breaking your body while training here. But your quirk will be very useful if you can get a handle on it. So, show a little urgency, huh?"

"Right!" Izuku said with a nod.

Aizawa then turned to the rest of the class as Santana resisted the urge to yawn.

"Let's get down to business," He said. "Our first task will decide your future."

His words brought a silent panic to most of the students as they wondered what he could possibly mean.

"You all need to pick a class representative." Aizawa said.

As many of the class sighed in relief, Santana's brow quirked in slight confusion.

"Class representative?" She questioned.

"It's like a class president." Aizawa explained to Santana. "Though unlike in most American schools where the president is over all the students in their year, the class rep handles their homeroom class specifically."

Santana hummed in understanding as many of her classmates were already calling out for the position. Santana didn't have any interest in the position and honestly didn't care who took it. So, she'd let her classmates decide. Though with all their shouting and carrying on, she'd say it might take them a while to come to a mutual decision.

"Silence, everyone, please!" Tenya called for order. "The class representative's duty is to lead others. It's just not something anyone can do. They must first have the trust of every student in the classroom. Therefore, the most logical way to fill this position is democratically. We will hold an election to choose our leader."

Of course, while he was saying all this, his hand was stiffly raised up in the air. He was so rigid that he almost looked to be in pain.

"It's pretty obvious that you want us to vote for you." Many of the class accused.

"Is this really the best idea?" Denki asked.

"We've only known each other a few days." Tsuyu added. "How do we know who we can trust?"

"We don't," Santana deadpanned from where she was resting her arms and chin on her books.

"Besides, everyone will probably vote for themselves." Eijiro pointed out.

Santana had to agree with him there. They were a group of teenagers who barely knew each other and many of which wanted the position for themselves…so yeah, many were going to vote for themselves.

"Most people will," Tenya agreed. "But that means who ever does receive multiple votes must truly be the most suitable person for the job! It's the best way, right, sir?!"

"Do what you want just decide before my nap is over." Aizawa said as he was already in his sleeping bag.

He then fell right over without hesitation to the floor leaving the students to decide for themselves. Honestly, Santana wished she could do the same as their teacher and take a nice nap. She doubted that'd go over well, however.

"Thank you for your trust!" Tenya said then turned to his fellow students. "Now, shall we begin?"

Though the others still seemed a bit uncertain they went along with Tenya's plan. And after righting a diagram on the board with everyone's name on it, everyone began casting their votes by discreetly writing a name on a piece of paper, which was then put in a cup up front.

Santana didn't take a lot of time in casting in her vote even if she wasn't like many of the others who voted for themselves. She wasn't sure if she trusted the person she voted for, but as for handling this rowdy bunch, she thinks he's the right choice for the job. Not long after the votes were tallied, many were shocked with the outcome as they stared at the results.

"How did I get three votes?!" Izuku exclaimed in shock.

"Okay, you idiots!" Katsuki snapped as he shot out of his seat. "Who voted for him?!"

"What? Did you honestly think anyone was going to vote for you?" Hanta asked.

This, of course, started an argument between the two where many others chimed in. Santana, of course, kept her mouth shut. She wasn't about to be pulled into that fight. Though she was a tad surprised. She didn't understand how someone as shy and timid as Izuku was got three votes. One was obviously from himself, but two others voted for him. From what Santana has observed from the boy is that he isn't that outspoken. He doesn't seem to have any real leadership qualities. Not like Tenya, who was currently sulking, and who happened to be who Santana voted for.

"Only one vote…" Tenya grumbled. "I feared I might not receive any votes, but still…just one…but I can't argue with the system I chose."

'_Well, at least he sticks to his word,'_ Santana thought despite seeing him pout.

So, it was decided that Izuku would be the class rep while Momo would assist him as class deputy. Santana wasn't sure how things would go with Izuku as their leader, but she supposed they'd find out.

* * *

As lunch rolled around, Santana made her way over to one of the tables off to the side. It was kind of in a back corner away from everyone, but gave her full view of the room meaning she had eyes on all the exists in case anything happened that would warrant a quick escape. It might be silly her doing that, but old habits do die hard as she already realized from yesterday's battle training. She was soon joined by Denki who was chatting away with Eijiro, Hanta, and Mina as they came over with him.

"You don't mind if we join you, right, S?" Denki asked the little antisocial bean.

"It's fine," Santana said with a shrug.

She said no more than that, which had some of the others sweat-dropping. Though Eijiro just grinned as he sat down on Santana's right side while Denki sat on her left.

"So, I didn't get to say it yesterday since you left right after, but good job on that mock battle training," Eijiro complimented her. "It was super manly how you took down Yaoyorozu and Mineta like that."

He said this with a genuine tone and look in his eyes that Santana found her lips turning up.

"Manly, eh?" Santana asked. "I don't think anyone has ever described me as that before."

Eijiro blinked before his cheeks seemed to tinge pink as he scratched the back of his head.

"Sorry," He said. "I guess using manly to describe a girl might not be the right word."

"It's fine," Santana said waving off his concern. "If I was actually offended, you'd know."

The way she said that just gave Denki the image of Santana punching someone right in the face without warning. Santana hasn't really shown an irritable side except with those reporters this morning since he met her. And even then, it didn't look like she would get violent, but he couldn't get the mental image out of his head.

"It was pretty cool either way," Hanta said. "None of us thought to scale the wall instead of waste time entering the building to search. You saved yourself time like All Might said and you kept your cool even though it was two against one."

"It wasn't that impressive of a feat," Santana disagreed. "In an actual fight like that I wouldn't have done as well because there would have been so many variables, I wouldn't have like I had had in the training. I knew my opponents' quirks beforehand, I knew exactly how many opponents I had to face, and I was able to watch all your battles beforehand to analyze and compare to make my own strategy by the time my turn came around."

Eijiro opened his mouth looking as if he was going to say something, but the sound of an alarm going off brought pause to everything in the lunchroom.

**"Warning: Level 3 Security Breach,"** An automated voice called over the intercoms. **"All students please evacuate the building in an orderly fashion."**

The voice started repeating the order as the students began to quickly move from their seats. Many weren't moving orderly as instructed either, which had Santana sighing.

_'Aspiring heroes but they panic so quickly,'_ She thought as she stood calmly. _'How pathetic…'_

She then looked to Mina when the girl reached out to grab her sleeve. The pinkette looked a bit nervous though kept a smile on her face.

"Even the third years look a bit scared," She commented.

"It's sad." Santana said with a frown on her face. "You'd think they'd have more pride to not act like frightened children."

Mina looked a bit surprised by Santana's words, but the dark-haired girl was already moving forward. Mina moved along with her as she still had a grip on the slightly taller girl's sleeve. The boys walked with them as many rushed passed to hurry into the hall. Their actions soon swept up Santana and her classmates with the fire girl cursing as she felt herself being ripped away from Mina's hold.

"Santana!" Mina called out.

Santana watched Mina disappear in the swarm of people as the panicked students were all trying to rush to the exit all at once. All they were accomplishing was trapping themselves there as the hallway became too crowded for anyone to move. Santana pushed back against the mob of people as she was separated even farther from the others.

"Everyone, stop freaking out!" Eijiro tried to calm everyone.

His words went unheard, however, as people continued to panic. Santana managed to wiggle slightly through the crowd as she tried to think of a way out of this. If there really was an attack on the school, they were all just sitting ducks as they were. There had to be a way to calm these panicked students down. As Santana was trying to think of something to do, she was shoved roughly from behind, which caused her to fall forward. If she went to the ground, she'd probably be trampled by all these panicking idiots.

"Sukōchi!" A voice called as they managed to grab the girl before she could be swept under everyone.

She turned her head in surprise seeing that it was Tenya who had managed to catch her.

"Are you alright?" He asked in concern.

"Yeah," Santana said with a nod. "I just wish all these people would calm the hell down."

Tenya nodded in agreement before grunting from being pushed as the shoving and pushing continued around them.

"I think I can get everyone to stop panicking," Tenya said. "It's just the media outside. Somehow, they managed to get in, which caused the security alert. If everyone knew that the panic should stop."

"How do you plan to tell everyone?" Santana asked. "No one is listening right now and everything is too loud. You'd have to get them all to shut up first."

Tenya frowned knowing she was right. He just had to find a way to get everyone's attention. It was then that Tenya's eyes landed on Ochaco when the girl cried out from being pushing.

"Uraraka!" Tenya called out.

The girl noticed him and Santana both and reached out towards her two classmates.

"Tenya, Santana, help me!" She begged.

Santana frowned but started pushing her way through the crowd towards her classmate. Tenya was right behind her as they tried to reach Ochaco. As they forced their way towards the girl, an idea hit Tenya that had his eyes widening. He reached out pass Santana to Ochaco, which had both girls looking at him in confusion.

"I have an idea!" He said with Ochaco still only looking confused. "Touch my hand! Make my float above everyone else!"

Santana began to understand what Tenya was trying to accomplish, and it seemed like Ochaco did as well as she reached as far as she could towards Tenya. It took a minute of struggling, but Ochaco finally touched her fingertips to Tenya's. He went up quickly with his glasses falling from his face, but Santana managed to grab them before they could fall to the floor.

She also managed to snag Ochaco's wrist while it was still reached out. She tugged the girl over to her side to keep her close as Tenya used his engines to zoom quickly over everyone else. Of course, this grabbed everyone's attention. Especially went Tenya hit the wall—looking like the guy on the emergency exit sign.

"Listen up, everything is okay!" Tenya told the large crowd of students. "It's just the media outside! There's absolutely nothing to worry about. Everything's fine! We're U.A. students. We need to remain calm, and prove that we're the best of the best!"

His words brought immediate calm to everyone, and as the students separated and weren't trying to cram through the doors at once, Santana let out a sigh of relief. Being packed like a sardine hadn't been a pleasant feeling. Though her personal space was soon invaded again as Mina jumped her from behind.

"Santana, here you are!" The pinkette said happily as she was practically hanging off Santana's back.

Eijiro, Denki, and Hanta found them as well with Izuku in tow. Looks like everyone was okay. The group then looked to Tenya who was still standing on the exit sign.

"We should probably get him down, huh?" Eijiro said as he pointed towards the dark-haired boy.

"Yeah," Hanta and Denki said in agreement as they nodded.

They all went over and with Ochaco's quirk still in effect, they managed to get Tenya down safe and sound. Once he was on his own two feet, Santana held his glasses out to him. He seemed surprised she had them, but he smiled as he took them from her.

"Thank you, Sukōchi." Tenya said.

"No problema, Ese." Santana replied with a shrug. "Besides, I should be thanking you, sí? I was ready to start lighting some fires under some asses if those panicking morons didn't give me some breathing room."

Her classmates laughed at her words, which had her giving them confused looks because she was being completely honest. She then sighed as she looked out the window to see the police escorting the media out.

'_I wonder how those reporters even got in,'_ She thought. _'U.A.'s defense system is one of the best in the country…malfunction maybe?'_

Though even thinking that she highly doubted it, which left her wondering who managed to break through to let those media vultures in.

* * *

Coco: I know Santana isn't really interacting with Eijiro a lot yet, but it's going to start happening gradually. I kind of want her to build her relationships with her other classmates though too. So, there will be some moments like in this chapter where she and Tenya kind of interacted and so on, but with the other students. But there will be some more Santana and Eijiro interaction too and it'll build as the story goes.

Also, there's something else I wan your opinions on. Like, who you should think Santana's hero mentor should be? Like teacher wise, which teacher would you like to see interact with Santana the most and kind of get her to grow warmer towards them and the whole hero thing. I don't think anyone will ever completely change Santana's opinion on the whole superhuman society, but I do want someone to be there to kind of help her through it and be like her go to person in the tough situations. Someone who kind of mentors her and looks out for her specifically. Like all the teachers are going to help her, but I want that one special one, ya know? XD Anyway, I'll put a poll up to see who you guys think will be the right pick. Until next time, guys~


	6. USJ

Coco: Hey, guys! What's up? How are all of you? I know I've mostly just been focusing on my first BnHA story and not much this one, but I come to you today with a new chapter! And I hope from here things will pick up a little bit more. Most of my stories with OC pairings usually start with the OC already knowing their future love interest, and it makes it easier for me to write like that. But Santana and Eijiro are starting from scratch and it's something kind of new for me to work with. A bit of a challenge. Like, I cringe sometimes when trying to write scenes with these two characters, but I'm working on it and I do feel like I'm getting a bit better. I'm trying to branch out of my comfort zone by not doing the whole childhood friend romance thing or the whole they bicker and fight and seem to hate each other and then fall in love thing. I tend to do that a lot...so, like I said, trying to branch out.

I know there isn't much interaction between Eijiro and Santana in these chapters so far, but I'm kind of building up to it. Because like in my mind, the whole class is trying to get a feel for each other before friendships start forming and these groups like the Deku and Baku squads take root XD So, while the students are getting used to each other, there isn't going to be like a lot of Eijiro and Santana only scenes. Or their interactions aren't going to be that big. But I kind of want to use the villain attack at the USJ to start forming that base work for their relationship, and I hope you guys like the route I'm taking and enjoy.

Shall we get started then?

* * *

After that incident with the reports breaking into the school, things continued as normal. Or at least on the surface. Santana was sure the teachers were looking into the incident, but as for the students, they went about their classes as usual.

"Today's training will be a little different." Aizawa said. "You'll have three instructors. Me, All Might, and another faculty member will be keeping tabs on you."

Santana guessed the three instructors was a precaution due to the attack. Or maybe it just had to do with the lesson plan, but she'd still say it's safe to say it's because of the attack on the school.

"Sir, what kind of training is this?" Hanta asked as he raised his hand.

Aizawa pulled out a card that had rescue written across the front of it in blue letters.

"Rescue." Aizawa said. "You'll be dealing with natural disasters, shipwrecks, stuff like that."

His students broke out in excited murmuring at what they might expect as Santana lightly frowned. She wasn't exactly good at the whole "rescue" thing. She was a combatant. Sure, she's secured things before and even retrieved some of her father's men from rival groups, but she wouldn't say she rescued them. More like treated them like cargo and tossed them around and pushed them out of the way when needed. She highly doubts such treatment will be acceptable for a hero trying to rescue a citizen in need. Also, natural disasters and such weren't enemies she was use to handling.

"Guys, I'm not finished yet." Aizawa said getting ever to shut up in an instant. "What you wear in this exercise is up to you. I know you're excited about costumes."

He then hit a button on a remote to pull out the racks of costumes stored in cases in the wall.

"But keep in mind, you haven't gotten used to them yet, and they might limit your abilities." Aizawa warned. "This special training is at an off-campus facility, so we'll be taking a bus to get there. That's all. Start getting ready."

* * *

Santana stood outside with everyone else as they waited to be told they could load the bus. Santana hasn't seen any sign of All Might or the other faculty member Aizawa told them would be joining the lesson. Though she supposes they might be waiting at the facility for them.

"So, you're not in your costume either, huh?" Izuku asked as he walked over towards Santana with Ochaco at his side.

Santana, who was indeed in her P.E. clothes, looked over to her two classmates.

"I sent my costume back to the designer after our first hero fundamental class." Santana explained. "She went a little overboard on redesigning my suit, so I _politely_ asked her to change some things."

Santana just wanted her old black catsuit back. She didn't want something flashy or overboard. As long as it functioned as it should. She had a few other fireproof items. Like a lot of fireproof underwear. That way the most important bits were covered if she has to go full on fire mode and isn't wearing her suit. She also has some tights and long spandex socks that are fireproof. Like the ones she had on now. They weren't really full socks/tights as the balls of her feet, toes, and heals were left exposed, but she usually wore these instead shoes—which she wasn't wearing now—when in training or preparing for any kind of combat. Made it easier to use her quirk.

"So, you had a costume before coming to U.A?" Izuku asked.

"I wouldn't call it a costume." Santana asked. "It was just a fireproof suit my father had made for me for training."

And for her to wear when she was _working_. Her father had gotten tired of buying her new clothes every time she'd burn hers, and he had decided she couldn't fight at her true potential if she was worried about trying not to catch her clothes on fire. So, the suit had been a must.

"Your dad was training for you to become a hero?" Ochaco asked. "That's so cool! Was he one?"

Santana inwardly frowned. Santana wasn't sure how to answer those questions, but she was saved from doing so when Tenya, who Izuku made class rep, started blowing a whistle.

"Gather around, Class 1-A!" Tenya shouted. "Using your student numbers form two neat lines, so we can load the bus efficiently!"

He blew the whistle a few more times as the others gave him a mix of expressions.

"Iida's kicking it into high gear as our class rep, huh?" Izuku commented.

"He needs to chill a little bit." Santana said.

Though everyone did as they were told, but when they went to get on the bus, the layout threw Tenya's loading strategy out the window. It was completely open in the front half of the bus, and while Tenya seemed completely crushed by this, everyone else just took a seat. Santana ended up between Tsuyu and Eijiro while leaning back to get comfortable.

"I feel like this is going to be a long ride for our class rep." She said as Tenya sulkily sat down.

"Probably," Eijiro agreed with a chuckle.

* * *

"The bus's open layout ruined my boarding strategy." Tenya complained from where he sat hunched over in his seat.

Santana, who had been lightly dozing, opened one of her eyes to look at the sulking teen. The others were giving him half-amused, half-sympathetic expressions as she just snorted at him.

"Iida, you really need to chill." Mina suggested.

There were murmurs of agreement from some of the others. Santana, who decided she napped long enough, sat up in her seat while crossing one leg over the other.

"If we're pointing out the obvious then there's something I wanna say." Tsuyu said as she turned to Izuku. "About you actually."

"About me?!" Izuku asked already looking flustered. "What is it, Asui?"

He leaned away nervously as he asked as if he feared what the petite girl might say.

"I told you to call me Tsu." She pointed out.

"Oh, yeah…right." Izuku remembered as he looked down.

He looked embarrassed by Tsuyu's words, but the frog girl's expression remained neutral.

"That power of yours," Tsuyu began. "Isn't it a lot like All Might's?"

Izuku jerked back as if he had been slapped, which had Santana's brow quirking. That had certainly been an interesting reaction.

"What?! Really?" Izuku asked. "You think so, huh? I never really thought about that. I guess it's kind of similar."

He went to mumble on nervously, but the mumbling mostly went ignored by his classmates. Though Santana gave him an unreadable look as she watched him. She's seen enough to know that when a person is acting like this, they were hiding something. And usually the bigger the secret the more nervous they were, and Izuku was practically sweating bullets as his eyes looked anywhere but at any of them.

"Wait, hold on, Tsu." Eijiro cut in. "You're forgetting All Might doesn't hurt himself. That makes a huge difference."

Izuku sighed in relief at Eijiro's words as it seemed enough to pacify Tsuyu. However, he stiffened all over again when seeing Santana's curious look. It was like she was piercing into his very soul. He thought she might press the subject, but she just looked away as Eijiro kept talking.

"Still, I bet it's cool to have a simple augmenting type of quirk. You can do a lot of flashy stuff with it." Eijiro said then raised his arm while activating his hardening quirk. "My hardening is super strong and can destroy bad guys in a fight, but it doesn't look all that impressive."

"Oh, no way, I think it's really awesome looking," Izuku complimented. "You're definitely Pro material with a quirk like that!"

Eijiro seemed flattered by Izuku's praise of his quirk, but didn't seem so sure either as he looked at his arm.

"You really think so?" He asked. "Seems like it'd be easier to be a popular hero if I had something flashier."

"Flashiness doesn't matter as long as you have the power to win in a fight," Santana threw in her two cents with Eijiro giving a small look of surprise. "I wouldn't put my trust in anyone just by the ostentatiousness of their quirk. If you want to be a popular hero, shouldn't you want the people's trust?"

Not that she cares if she's ever a popular hero. In fact, it's usually the popular ones who get on her nerves the most as they act the less hero-like behind the scenes. They're all smiles and friendly in public, but could really care less about the people they swore to serve and protect. She wasn't saying Eijiro was that kind of person. Or that any of her classmates were. That's just her experience when it comes to the actual Pros.

"My naval laser has the perfect combination of panache and strength." Yuga pipped up from his seat.

"But it's way lame if it gives you a stomachache, sweetie," Mina told him gently.

Some of the others chuckled at her words as Yuga practically threw her a pout.

"Well, if any of our classmates have pro quirks, it's Todoroki and Bakugo." Eijiro said.

Shoto, who looked to be napping as Santana had been earlier, didn't even stir at the sound of his name. Katsuki, however, looked over seeming a tad surprised at being brought into the conversation. Though he soon looked away.

"Yeah, sure, but Bakugo is always angry, so he'll never be that popular." Tsuyu said bluntly.

As said blonde stiffened at her words, Santana let out a short, bark of a laugh at Tsuyu's bluntness. Her laughter coupled with Tsuyu's remark made the blonde jump from his seat in anger.

"What did you say?!" Katsuki was shouting. "I'll kick your ass!"

While some leaned away nervously at Katsuki's threat or just watched on in mild curiosity, Tsuyu wasn't phased in the slightest.

"Ya see?" Tsuyu asked as she pointed at the ash-blonde.

This had Katsuki gritting his teeth even harder as Santana found herself grinning even more.

"Ya know, we basically just met you, so it's kind of telling that we all know your personality is flaming crap mixed with garbage." Denki pointed out.

"You're going to regret the day you applied to this school, you loser!" Katsuki snarled as he leaned in Denki's direction. "I'll kill you!"

This had Kyoka leaning away from Katsuki as Santana was still laughing from this whole ordeal.

"The same goes for you!" Katsuki shouted as he looked to Santana. "I'll make you choke on that laughter!"

"How? By being more amusing than you already are, Firecracker?" Santana retorted.

"What'd you call me?!" Katsuki demanded.

As Santana just continued to look amused by his anger, Eijiro sweat-dropped since he was stuck in the middle.

"Enough," Tenya said. "Classmates are meant to encourage each other!"

"I'm going to encourage these dumbasses to explode!" Katsuki shouted as he gestured between Santana and Denki.

Denki just grinned not seeming too worried as Santana let out an unimpressed snort. She obviously wasn't frightened by Katsuki's threats.

"I've seen chihuahuas more frightening than you, Ese." Santana told him rather bluntly. "All bark and no bite, ey?"

"Yeah, you're crazy, dude." Denki added.

As Katsuki snapped something back in retort, Eijiro looked down at Santana almost pleadingly.

"How about not picking a fight when I'm in the middle?" He asked with a nervous grin on his face.

Santana apologized to the boy as Denki and Katsuki kept bickering with each other. Though Tenya tried to get them to stop.

"Alright," Tenya cut in. "Just apologize to each other."

"Only if he goes first." Denki said.

"Like hell I will!" Katsuki retorted.

"Pass." Santana said.

Katsuki growled some more as Aizawa watched the group. He noted Santana seemed to be interacting more with her classmates. It was a good sign. Even if she was practically just picking a fight. Though they didn't have time for this.

"Hey, hey, hey, we're here." Aizawa cut in to shut Katsuki up. "Stop messing around."

"Yes, sir," Everyone—including a begrudging Katsuki—said in unison.

The bus pulled up to a large building with a dome-like top, and outside the building was a Pro-Hero in a space suit.

"Hello, everyone!" The hero greeted them. "I've been waiting for you."

"It's the Space Hero: Thirteen!" Izuku said. "The pro who's rescued a ton of people from disasters across the world!"

Santana blinked while guessing that as long as Izuku's around she'll at least know the name of every pro-hero they meet. Though she didn't understand his obsession or admiration one bit.

"Woohoo!" Ochaco cheered. "Thirteen is one of my favorite heroes."

"I can't wait to show you what's inside." Thirteen said gesturing them forward.

As almost everyone voiced their excitement, they started heading into the large building. They all stopped inside just pass the entrance, which dropped into a huge staircase that led into an opened area that had many disaster zones. Santana wasn't really looking forward to this. She was sure this was going to be one hero fundamental class that she wasn't going to do to well in.

"Holy crap," Eijiro said. "It looks like some kind of amusement park."

Santana supposed in a way that it did. She also had to wonder if this facility belonged to the school and just how much money it took to build this place.

"A shipwreck, a landslide, a fire, a wind storm, etc." Thirteen said as she spread out her arms widely. "I created this training facility to prepare you to deal with different types of disasters. I call it the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, but you can call it U.S.J."

She pointed dramatically at the students as she said this with one leg up in the air and her arm stretched out far. It almost looked as if she was trying to perform ballet.

_'Just like Universal Studios Japan,'_ Everyone thought in unison.

Aizawa, who ignored Thirteen's theatrics, walked over to the younger Pro while looking around.

"Hey, shouldn't All Might be here, already?" Aizawa asked. "Let me guess, he booked an interview instead."

Thirteen moved closer to Aizawa and spoke in a hushed voice that had Santana tilting her head. Something must be wrong, but considering he is the Symbol of Peace, she was sure All Might had to be alright. Not that she cared.

"Clock's ticking," Aizawa said after he finished speaking with Thirteen. "We should get started."

He then moved out of Thirteen's way to lean against one of the pillars of the archway.

"Excellent!" Thirteen said. "Before we begin, let me just say one thing. Well, maybe two things. Possibly three—or four or five."

"We get it!" Some students called out.

They were eager to get started that much was certain, but despite their slightly pushy tones, Thirteen continued on with pause.

"Listen carefully," Thirteen said. "I'm sure that you're aware that I have a powerful quirk. It's called Black Hole. I can use it to suck up anything and turn it into dust."

Definitely not a quirk Santana would want to go up against if she could help it. There wouldn't be much one could do against something like that. Except something reckless that could end very poorly.

"Yeah, you've used Black Hole to save people from all sorts of disasters, haven't you?" Izuku asked.

"That's true," Thirteen agreed. "But my quirk could very easily be used to kill."

Her words dropped the smiles from the others' faces and some of the student's eyes widened. They obviously hadn't expected those words to come from their instructor's mouth. Aizawa watched his students' reactions and noticed most of them seemed a bit bothered by what Thirteen said. Though Santana wasn't fazed as to be expected and was looking at her fellow students with a shake of her head. It was like she couldn't believe how they never thought how deadly quirks could be. Of course, Santana grew up in a world completely different than the rest of her classmates. What seemed normal to her probably never had crossed the others' minds.

"Some of you also have powers that could be dangerous." Thirteen continued. "In our superhuman society all quirks are certified and stringently regulated, so we often overlook how unsafe they can actually be. Please, don't forget that if you lose focus or make the wrong move, your powers can be deadly. Even if you're trying to do something virtuous like rescue one. Thanks to Aizawa's fitness tests you have a solid idea of your quirk's potential, and because of All Might's combat training, you likely experienced how dangerous your powers can be while used against other people."

Santana resisted the urge to yawn as Thirteen spoke. She knew what the woman was saying was important. However, she already knew these things. She knew how dangerous her quirk can be. She's seen firsthand the aftermath of her using it at full power, and it was never a pretty sight, which is why she never goes all out if she can help it. And why she's always conscious of how much firepower a situation calls for. It's all about control. Something she's gained over the years of training she went through.

"Carry those lessons over to this class." Thirteen said. "Today you're going to learn how to use your quirks to save people's lives. You won't be using your powers to attack enemies or each other—only to help. After all, that's what being a hero is all about—ensuring the safety of others. That's all I have to say. Thank-you so much for listening."

She gave a bow to the class where many of the students clapped as they were moved by her words. Santana just looked off the side while wanting to get a move on with things.

"Right," Aizawa cut in before they could get too rowdy. "Now that that's over…"

Aizawa never finished his sentence as the lights suddenly went out around the U.S.J. It was something that had everyone pausing and looking around. The fountain in the center seemed be losing some water flow as well. Santana frowned already feeling on edge as she adjusted her stance. Santana's eyes then snapped over towards the sputtering fountain as a dark shape caught her eye.

She stared at it with narrowed eyes as Aizawa sensed something wrong as well. He whirled around seeing the same as Santana. The spiraling blackness spread far out as two yellow looking eyes appeared within it. Though what was worrying was that fact people were coming through the black mass.

"Stay together and don't move." Aizawa ordered his students—most of which hadn't noticed the danger before them. "Thirteen, protect the students!"

The others finally looked to what had gotten Aizawa's attention with some of their eyes widening—though mostly in confusion—at the sight of the intruders. Santana was tense and ready for a fight at this point as her body started to smoke from it heating up.

"Wow, what is that thing?" Eijiro asked as he looked at the large black mass. "Wait, has the training started already? I thought we were rescuing people."

Izuku went to move forward to get a closer look, but Santana put her arm out in front of him to stop him. He looked at his classmate seeing how tense she was as her eyes were glaring down at the people entering the facility. Santana looked like a whole different person at that moment. She usually has a bored—even tired looking—expression on her face and her posture is usually laid back. Even during their battle training, she hadn't looked this serious. But right now, was a completely different story. Her expression was cold and her eyes focused, and her posture poised to attack at a moment's notice. Izuku wasn't the only one who noticed this as Eijiro was looking at Santana with wide eyes as well.

"Stay back!" Aizawa ordered the teens before moving his goggles in place. "This is real. Those are villains."

His words sent a chill through many of the students as they looked down in fear at the villains before them.

"What?! Real Villains?" Eijiro asked. "No way. How could so many of them get into a U.A facility this secure?"

Santana didn't know, but she knew this had to be tied to what happened at their school with those reporters. Looks like there was more to it than meet the eye just as she thought.

"Yeah," Momo agreed. "Thirteen, why aren't the alarms going off?"

"Good question," Thirteen said. "I'm not sure."

Her words worried the frightened students even more as they wondered what could be going on.

"Is the entire campus under attack?" Shoto asked. "Or is this their only target? Either way if the alarm sensors aren't being triggered then one of these villains must have a quirk that's masking their presence here. They carefully chose this isolated facility as an entry point at the time a class was being taught. They're fools for trespassing here, but they've thought this out. Whatever their plan, they must have a concrete objective in mind. But what is it?"

"They're most likely after someone," Santana spoke up.

Her words had her classmates looking towards her though she didn't turn to look at them in return.

"First, the break in at the school, the reporters were most likely the perfect distraction for a villain to sneak in." Santana continued. "Gather information. Like something that told them we'd be here today and at this time. Even something that would let them know who would be here. Most likely, there here for one of our teachers…a smaller chance is that they're here for one of us."

A shiver traveled through some of the teens at the thought of these villains being here for one of them. Santana thought if they were after a student it'd be her. They might be some kind of associates of her parents. Her mother had connections here in Japan even after living in America for so long. Maybe they were here to retrieve Santana for them.

"Though I suppose another reason for them being here is to launch a blow at the school." Santana continued as if in an afterthought. "If a large class of young heroes-in-training is attacked and injured or worse, the school's reputation will surely plummet and cause quite the stir. Either way, it looks like things aren't going to be pretty for us."

She held her arm angled off to the side with it igniting into flames. Aizawa probably didn't wish for them to fight, but with so many villains he couldn't dream of protecting all of them. Even if Thirteen here with him.

"Don't even think about it, Sukōchi. You are not to engage." Aizawa told her, which brought a frown to her face. "Thirteen, get them out of here. And alert the main campus. Actually, if they've got the ability to block our sensors then they might be blocking our regular communicators too. Kaminari, try using your quirk to contact the school."

"Yes, sir." Denki said.

As Denki tried to see if he could get a signal out to the school, Izuku turned to Aizawa.

"What are you going to do?" Izuku asked. "You can't fight them on your own. There's too many of them. Even if you can nullify their quirks, your fighting-style is not suited for this. Your power works best in stealth and one-on-one fights. That's not going to help with a group."

Which is why Aizawa should use the help he has. He knows Santana has previous experience in stuff like this, which is something he should use to his advantage. Santana is used to being the front liner in battles like this, so she didn't understand why'd he tell her not to fight. He'd need help. She didn't care how skilled he was.

"You can't be a pro if you only have one trick." Aizawa pointed out then turned Thirteen. "I'll leave it to you, Thirteen."

Santana shook her head at Aizawa as he sprang into action by flinging himself down the stairs. He engaged the villains and used nullifying their quirks to hit them while they were surprised. He was doing pretty well, but he'd hit his limit before he took all of them down on his own.

"Everyone to the exit!" Thirteen ordered. "We must get you kids out of here and to safety."

Santana didn't move at first as she watched Aizawa fight. This wasn't going to end well for him if he insisted on fighting on his own. Seemed stupid to her.

_'But whatever…it's his life…'_ Santana thought as she turned.

Though that was about as far as she got as her body stilled and her hands clenched into fists. She glanced back over her shoulder as Aizawa was being swarmed.

_'Dammit…'_ She thought irritably as she turned back towards the fight as her feet began to smoke and heat up. _'I'm so going to get into trouble for this…'_

* * *

Coco: And that is the end of the chapter, my peeps. I hope you liked it.


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